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THE SOLUTION 

A Story of the New Medication 

BY 

CAROLYN SCOFIELD SMITH 
w 



BOSTON 

RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 





COPYKIGHT, 1922, BY CaEOLYN S. SmITH 




All Rights Reserved 


©Cl A683709 

Made in the United States of America 


Press of 

J. J. Little & Ives Company 
New York, U. S. A. 

OCT 14 1322 

, I ' 


To 

Dr. THOMAS KELLY 

who lived and died for humanity, 
and who encouraged the author with 
observations and wise councils 
this book is inscribed 



FOREWORD 


This is the day of advance. The human mind is 
more than ever seeking for the ways and means of 
combating the forces inimical to human existence. 
Even as the wisdom of Noah led to his construction 
of the biblical ark; as Ponce de Leon sought the 
fountain of eternal youth, so today science is direct- 
ing its greatest achievements to make life happier 
and more enduring. Notwithstanding this, the ap- 
plications of discovery continue to be obstructed by 
conventions of thought and shortness of vision. 
The present story is an account of difficulties pre- 
sented in extending the old by the new. It may 
interest the reader to know that the fiction of the 
present story is but a subtle statement of actual 
difficulties and how they are being overcome. It is 
further true that the psychical features are recorded 
as they were actually experienced. 






THE SOLUTION 



THE SOLUTION 


CHAPTER I 

Some years ago, in a quaint old house nestling 
under the eaves of the big Hotel St. George and 
within a stone’s throw of the historical Plymouth 
Church, our story begins. This had been at one time 
the old aristocratic section of Brooklyn. It was now 
about equally claimed by the old families and the 
new. 

In the second floor front of this house sat a young 
woman whose attention was equally divided between 
the disordered condition of the room which indicated 
either a fire or a recent move and six bright and 
shining objects resembling percolators which were 
displayed on the table before her. She was now 
studying the lines of these objects, anxious to make 
them conform to the excellence of the interiors. 
For it was the contents of these objects that had 
cost Catherine Summers many years of study and 
experimentation. 

Catherine, though still young in appearance, was 
no longer gay and lively. The dimples had vanished 
9 


10 


The Solution 


from her cheeks, and to her mouth had come a set 
expression that did not indicate levity. Her hopes 
had soared valiantly one day only to be dashed into 
an abyss of fear the next when one chemical did not 
work, or the flux was not right. She had endured 
a constantly changing life in which no living creature 
but herself could enter, — alone with her hopes, — 
alone with her fears, — deserted by her friends, whom 
she no longer had the time nor the inclination to 
entertain. 

Trained as an artist, in spite of her several years^ 
experience with chemicals, Catherine still retained 
the artist’s keenness in observation. This had 
proved to be of infinite use to her in her later studies. 
She had been a successful artist, too, earning quite 
enough to indulge her hobbies for horses and boats, 
which she considered promoters of her health. Colds 
had always harassed her from October until May, 
but she noticed that these abated during the sum- 
mer when she had lived aboard her big houseboat. 
It was then she conceived the idea of drawing the 
oxygen from water to purify the blood. 

This, then, had been the beginning of her dream, a 
mechanism to convert water anywhere and every- 
where in the world into a beneficial water which would 
purify, making puny bodies strong and healthful ; a 
living water, with public fountains where the myriads 
of poor in all the great cities could come and drink. 
In the row of bright and shining objects before her 


The Solution 


11 


she saw her dream taking material shape, becoming 
an established fact, a disputed fact, a very disturb- 
ing fact, with some people, but a persistent fact, 
nevertheless. 

For now Catherine was no longer distracted by 
colds all winter, and many, besides herself, had found 
the same relief. These many had begun to hand in 
their observations to her. These were to become 
the nucleus of her dreams. Out of the nebula of 
her past hopes and fears a strange courageous sun 
had taken shape and power to come forth into the 
rosy dawn of a marvelous new day. . . .Yes, that one 
had the best lines . . . she picked up one of the “per- 
colators,” and set it off by itself. The sun had be- 
gun to rise for all the world to see. 

Her meditations were disturbed by a knock at the 
door. It was her cousin Franklin, from Summers- 
town, who had come to the city to learn the banking 
business. He was young and full of enthusiasm, 
and though but recently come into Catherine’s life, 
she prized his companionship. 

“Hello, Catherine,” he greeted her. “What is 
this display.? Got all your babies here to-night, I 
guess.” 

Catherine was in the habit of referring to the 
latest of her inventions each time as “her youngest 
child.” So she laughed, knowing perfectly well that 
he was alluding to her “percolators,” as he some- 
times called them. 


12 


The Solution 


“Yes,” she answered, “I brought them all over 
from the shop purposely to see you. Now,” as she 
surveyed the shining row, “it is your duty and privi- 
lege to judge which one is the prettiest.” 

“This one I don’t like,” said Franklin, picking 
up one with a rather heavy cornice-like ring in the 
center. “It looks too much like a Gold Dust Twin, 
this does. And this one, the faucet is too long. 
It looks like an old man with a hook nose.” He 
looked the others over without much more irrelevant 
comment. Finally he decided on the very one which 
Catherine had chosen. 

“Well done,” said Catherine, giving Franklin a 
look which he knew meant that she was pleased with 
his selection. “That was my choice, too. You have 
quite a deal of the artist in you despite your pref- 
erence for the hum-drum vocation of banking.” 

“It wasn’t that I yearned to be a banker, you 
know. The vocation was, more or less, thrust upon 
me,” said Franklin. He then turned to observe 
Catherine’s Aquariums, consisting of three fish globes 
arranged in a row on one of the deep window seats. 
These fish were a constant source of amusement to 
Franklin. But their purpose to Catherine had been 
the more expedient one of instruction and experi- 
mentation. She frequently referred to them as, 
“My friends, the Fishes.” 

Franklin watched her as she changed their water. 


The Solution 


13 


She filled one globe with water from one of the 
machines, the next with water from another machine, 
and the last with tap water. Franklin asked whether 
the oxygenated water would go to their heads, and 
make them silly. Catherine looked at the fish criti- 
cally then, wondering if those in the treated water 
waved their tails and wiggled their fins more rap- 
turously than those in the tap water. Honesty was 
one of Catherine’s virtues. She was forced to ad- 
mit that they were all about equally joyous. She 
had bought some of the black and gold specimens 
which the Japanese are said to breed in such a way 
that they acquire the black spots. Franklin won- 
dered if the treated water would take out the black 
spots, causing them to become all gold again. 
Catherine wondered what the effect would be, too ; 
and so she divided these about equally in the three 
globes to await results. They both found endless 
amusement watching the fish with a preponderance 
of fins and tails. Franklin said that they looked 
like ladies with so much train and clothes that 
they could hardly navigate. 

As they were making comments upon the different 
fish some one knocked in a peremptory manner. 
Catherine did not respond by the informal ‘‘Come 
in,” but opened the door. 

“Good evening,” said the newcomer, in a crisp 
and jerky way to Catherine; then he addressed 


14 


The Solution 


Franklin with, “Hello, mate, how have you been?” 
Franklin enjoyed the distinction of being mate on 
Catherine’s only remaining boat, the Tip Top, her 
big houseboat having burned. He seemed glad to 
greet the newcomer, Mr. Mills, who shook hands 
very heartily with him. Then Mills turned to 
Catherine, and said, “Now that you are out of busi- 
ness, and can do these men no more favors, I’m 
afraid some of them are going to get mean about 
paying”; for collecting had been Mr. Mills’ voca- 
tion when Catherine had had her studio, and he was 
well adapted in handling delinquents. His eyes were 
not sharp and blue for nothing ; and there was alert- 
ness and decision in his every move. 

“I know you can get the money from them if any 
one can,” she told him. She knew that she had not 
the gift of persuasion to extract money from an 
obdurate clientele that Mr. Mills had. She was 
very glad that he had undertaken to collect the out- 
standing debts. 

Franklin suspected that they might wish to have 
some business conversation together. So he grace- 
fully lied by saying he had an engagement. 

“Oh, nonsense, just an engagement to study,” 
said Catherine. “Here is some fish food. You may 
feed the fishes while Mr. Mills and I go over this 
account; it won’t take very long, will it?” and she 
turned to Mills for the hearty approbation she did 
not get. Mills evidently had other things on his 


The Solution 


15 


mind. Franklin was quick to see this. Despite 
Catherine’s protests he took his leave, promising to 
call in again soon. 

Mr. Mills looked relieved when he had gone, though 
he liked the boy well enough. He really wanted to 
persuade Catherine to give up her experimenting. 
For in spite of the improved condition of her health 
and the concrete results of her labors now arrayed 
on the table before them, to his finite mind she seemed 
headed for destruction. 

“For heaven’s sake,” he warned, “take care of 
this money !” He handed her the fruits of his labor 
consisting of half a dozen checks and bills. You 
don’t know how many years it may be before you 
can make any money on these things,” and he pointed 
somewhat contemptuously at the six bright objects 
on the table. 

“How dare you be so scornful of my children!” 
she exclaimed, smiling. “Every one says they are 
very bright-looking children.” 

Mills seemed amused for a moment at the play on 
words. “Yes, bright and shiny enough,” he said. 
Then he went on abruptly. “You know everybody 
thinks this idea of yours is impracticable. I would 
advise you to buy back the studio ; for if this idea of 
yours fails you will have to start all over again. 
Unless,” — ^and here he interrupted himself by giving 
her an oblique glance, “unless you expect to get 
married.” 


16 


The Solution 


“Which idea is absurd. Marrriage, is an act 
I have no desire of committing,” she said, looking 
straight at Mills. He returned her look, search- 
ingly. Had she refused him so many times because 
of some one else whom she loved, he wondered.^ Or 
had she really become so immersed in this invention.^ 
He wondered if she was grieving for Mr. Burrell, a 
very good and old friend, who had made money for 
Catherine to experiment with. Mr. Burrell had re- 
cently met with foul play when carrying a large 
sum of money on his person. There would be no 
more fortunate turns on Wall Street from that quar- 
ter. Was Catherine grieving for him.? He was 
silent for several minutes, a very unusual condition 
for Mills, who was ordinarily the embodiment of 
nervous activity. 

Catherine broke in upon his meditative mood by 
remarking: “IVe just had a letter from Mr. Spots; 
you knew that he went West.?” 

Catherine had dropped into a daydream when 
Mills replied, “I should think he would want to go 
West after making you lose all the money that poor 
Mr. Burrell had made for you.” Since Mr. Burrell 
was out of the running as a suitor for Catherine’s 
hand. Mills could now alford to be sympathetic in 
his behalf. 

“He didn’t make me lose it. He advised against 
my doing just what I did,” countered Catherine. 

“Anyway,” said Mills, “you can’t deny that he 


The Solution 


17 


introduced you to the old rascal,” for Mr. Spots had 
become a very sore spot with Mills. In studio days, 
Mr. Mills had been the custodian of the bank ac- 
count, and had taken great pride in the achievement 
of Mr, Burrell, whenever he increased Catherine’s 
account by several clever turns on the market. But 
when Mr. Spots had come along and had been the 
means of introducing Catherine to Mr. Roace, a 
wily old rascal who had depleted the bank account, 
even the ruin of Mr. Spots also did not excuse his 
behavior in the eyes of Mr. Mills. “Well, what does 
Mr. Spots say.? Any chance of getting your money 
from that old fraud Roace.?” 

“Not much chance, I guess,” said Catherine. 

“Well, I could have told you there wouldn’t be 
the ghost of a show. Now I suppose he’ll be sup- 
porting the old man’s wife, and probably sending 
flowers to the crazy old fool, besides. I just cal- 
culated that rascal would be foxy enough to go 
crazy if he were caught. He was smart enough for 
that, all right.” 

Mills had been standing, during this conversation, 
for there seemed to be objects piled on every comfort- 
able chair. Catherine had not as yet found the time 
to put her things in order. Her quarters, too, were 
much more cramped here than in New York. Her 
real reason for moving to Brooklyn had been for 
economy’s sake and the chance to give her undivided 
attention to what she now considered her life pur- 


18 


The Solution 


pose. Mills now proceeded without ceremony to 
unload the things occupying the most comfort- 
able chair upon one less desirable. “There,” he de- 
cided, when he was ensconsed, “that is more like it. 
Do you think you will ever get this place to look 
nice and cozy like the place on the Avenue.'* Looks 
to me as if you had brought enough junk to furnish 
a flat instead of a moderate-sized room.” 

“I suppose I will have to get rid of it,” said 
Catherine, looking rather helplessly at the disorder. 

“But of course you won’t dispose of those fool 
fishes, and you will take up your table space with 
those ‘Aquators,’ or whatever you call them.” 

“Dear me,” said Catherine, somewhat wearily, “I 
do wish you would come in sometime when you were 
less fault-finding.” 

“Nice polite way of asking a fellow to leave after 
he has collected a bunch of bills for you. I’m not 
going, though, not just yet. But if you don’t con- 
sent to marry me, I’m going to leave for good and 
all. Of course you’ve told me that you wouldn’t, 
but remember you haven’t the friends you had when 
you entertained on the houseboat and on the Avenue. 
Even your oldest standby, Mr. Burrell, and Mr. 
Spots are gone now. And the best and kindest of 
them all, a real true blue, — I’d call Miss Russell, — 
has gone away. Why, you haven’t any one now 
but your uncle and a cousin or two that you see 
once in a blue moon.” 


The Solution 


19 


“Yes, I know that I’m very much alone; but I 
have had to have seclusion for my experimenting. 
I shall miss Miss Russell more than any one, for 
she was always interested and optimistic.” 

“I suppose she writes regularly?” asked Mills. 

“Oh, yes,” replied Catherine. “But I don’t think 
I should have left New York so soon if it hadn’t 
made me so homesick to go past my old home there.” 

Mills had, with malice aforethought, tried to make 
her feel her loneliness. He judged that here was a 
proper pause in which to make his stand. 

“Now, see here, Catherine,” he said, in about as 
persuasive a tone as he could assume (persuasion of 
the softer kind not being in his line), “if you don’t 
marry and settle down pretty soon you will be a 
lonely old maid all your life.” 

“Do you think I wouldn’t be lonely if I married 
you?” asked Catherine. 

“Nobody has ever complained of loneliness when 
I was around,” said Mills. “I can usually stir things 
up.” 

“That’s quite true. No one has ever complained 
of monotony when you were near. But I should be 
lonely, — for you haven’t the slightest interest in 
what I am trying to do. I should be very, very 
lonely if I married you. Mills.” 

“Oh, darn it, then don’t,” said Mills, petulantly, 
feeling that he had lost out in this, his hundredth 
and avowedly last proposal to Catherine. “But I 


20 


The Solution 


will get married, just the same. You’ll see. And 
I’m not going to stay around here and collect your 
bills. You have been making a fool of a fellow.” 

“Nonsense !” said Catherine, this time somewhat 
nettled herself. “Our business relations have kept 
us friends. You were of value to me, and I have 
been of value to you. Your position was a good 
one, and you enjoyed the freedom it gave you. Now 
you needn’t say I’ve made a fool of you at all, for 
I haven’t.” 

“Well, then, you haven’t,” and, feeling in a some- 
what repentant mood, he added, “Well, I’ll finish the 
collecting for you, anyway.” 

“That’s a good old Towser dog,” said Catherine, 
“always watching my bank account.” 

“The chances are that you won’t have any to 
watch very long,” he told her. “Well, good night,” 
he said abruptly and carefully slammed the door. 

“Dear me,” mused Catherine, “there was a splen- 
did man simply spoiled because his mother didn’t 
spank him when he was young. But I’m not going 
to make the corrections his mother neglected. Some 
other woman can assume that undertaking.” 

She looked about the room then to find a suitable 
place to put several books that were on the desk. 
She liked to keep her desk clear, for she often wanted 
to write when an idea came to her out of the clear 
skies, a bolt from the blue, as she called it. Then 
she would write rapidly on a scrap of paper which 


The Solution 


21 


she carefully filed. As she had taken the comfort- 
able chair which Mills had relieved of its burden of 
books she rested her head against its cushions while 
her hand rested lightly on the table still holding the 
pencil. No human being seemed to be within the 
radius of her thought. A peculiar drowsiness came 
over her. Then, without her volition, her hand 
moved and begun to make some sort of characters 
on the paper. This had the effect of rousing her. 
She wondered what was moving her hand, as she did 
not direct it, it could not be herself. She did not 
get frightened, for she was too thoroughly curious. 
The hand continued to try to make characters. 
When it reached the bottom of the page Catherine 
could resist her curiosity no longer. She rose then, 
and turned on the light. She saw a great number 
of scrawls from which she made out one message that 
was repeated three times. 

“M. K. S. is in trouble.” There were other scrawls, 
and an occasional word could be made out. But 
there was no doubt about the legibility of “M. K. S. 
is in trouble.” 

Catherine had heard that there was such a thing 
as “automatic writing,” but she had never consid- 
ered herself as a medium. It now occurred to her 
to ask, “Who is M. K. S..?^” She wrote her question 
at the top of a fresh page, and turned olf the light 
again, waiting to see what would happen. The an- 
swer came quite promptly in a very big scrawl: 


22 


The Solution 


“Your Mother.” Catherine’s own mother’s name 
had been Mary Katherine, the “K” being used as the 
initial. She believed, but did not know for certain, 
that she had been called by^the two names. So she 
asked, “Which mother, — my living mother ?” This 
time the answer was very prompt: “No, your own 
mother !” 

This caused Catherine to think very hard, indeed. 
Her feeling of loneliness was now assuredly gone. 
She felt that the room was filled. But she was not 
sure that she liked it. She did not remember her 
mother, so she felt no grief at her loss. She had 
sometimes wondered, since her experimenting, if her 
dead mother would have been in sympathy with her 
had she been living. At times Catherine felt that 
she might be near her. But she had not supposed 
that such a direct communication, even in the wildest 
flights of her fancy, would have been possible. 

Now Catherine sat quietly thinking for some min- 
utes ; she was aware of the fact that there was such 
a thing as the subconscious mind. She thought 
that might be directing her hand. Then she re- 
solved to treat the supposed communicator as if it 
were her mother. So she wrote: “Have you seen 
Grandpa Summers lately?” Each time after she 
asked a question she allowed her hand to remain 
passive. Almost immediately this time it wrote: 
“No, I don’t see him very often. He has gone to 
another plane.” Then followed a great deal of 


The Solution 


23 


illegible writing with only a word now and then 
that was plain. But at the end it said : “He has not 
the same interest in remaining near the earth plane 
as I have.” 

Catherine remembered to ask : “What was the 
trouble you spoke about in your first message.?” 

The reply was, “M. K. S. has been trying to reach 
you for a very long time. The trouble was that I 
could not seem to make your hand move so as to 
convey any meaning. When you assert yourself I 
am powerless.” 

Catherine then wrote, “I have been in some little 
seances. Why did you not take advantage of the 
opportunity to communicate.?” 

“Because I did not think the mediums were sin- 
cere.” 

Catherine now felt tired, and she was not one to 
overdo a new experience. She wished to think it 
over in broad daylight. This time she did not write 
her thought. She said to herself, “I think I shall 
go to bed.” Then she relaxed her hand, and the 
answer came as promptly as when she had written 
the questions : “Good night, dearest.” 

Catherine immediately turned on the light and 
saw that it was nearly two o’clock. It was ten 
o’clock when she had first sat down, and she must 
have been in a half-trance since. She prepared her- 
self for bed, and was soon sound asleep. When she 
awoke the next morning her first thought was of her 


24 


The Solution 


experience of the night before. She actually thought 
then that she must have dreamed it. But she went 
to the desk where she remembered putting the papers, 
and found the sheets. She looked at them curiously. 
“I will try again to-night,” she thought, “perhaps 
it is only transient.” 

Then she went to a small closet-like place which 
she had had built. Here she evaporated the waters 
from her different machines. She noticed that some 
alloys made blue water, and others red and orange. 
She recalled the dream she had had long ago where 
a fountain with multicolored sparkling waters fell 
in a pool and mingled, and became a fountain for 
healing. She wondered if there could be any con- 
nection between that dream and her present experi- 
ence, if there could be a great power directing her. 
She would ask that question this very night, she 
thought. 

Later in the morning Catherine went over to her 
little shop, or rather, a part of a shop, and busied 
herself. But contrary to her custom of thinking con- 
tinuously of her invention her thoughts would recur 
to the events of the night before. The laboratory 
part of her work she had long since moved to the 
suburbs. For she had had several successful “fire 
scares,” and had been obliged to take her experiments 
out of the city, — ^by the special request of landlord 
and neighbors. When she got back to her room she 
found she still had plenty of work to do, for she 


The Solution 


25 


had not yet succeeded in getting settled in her new 
quarters. She became almost exasperated trying 
to find places for various books, ornaments, and 
some of her experimental paraphernalia for which 
she had had plenty of room in her spacious Fifth 
Avenue studio, but which filled her present big room 
to overflowing. She finally came to the conclusion 
that, if she were ever to get order out of chaos she 
would have to dispense with many of her treasures. 

She went to her landlady, Mrs. Goodwin, and told 
her trouble. “I think I had better send a lot of 
these things home,’^ she said. “Do you know where 
I can get a large box.?’^ 

“You won’t need a box, for I have some very large 
canvas bags you may have,” said the good-natured 
Mrs. Goodwin. She disappeared into a remote and 
dark closet which were common in the old-style 
houses, and brought forth two extremely large bags. 

Catherine was elated at the find. “Thank you, 
they are just the things I need. Now I’ll see if I 
can evolve some order out of this confusion. I’ll 
send them home. For they have plenty of room 
there, and if I need anything, I can get them out 
when I go up.” 

When Catherine began packing her superfluous be- 
longings she sobered somewhat, wondering dubiously 
if they would want to care for her things there. 
Catherine’s experiments had been a sore trial to both 
her stepmother and her sister Nella. “For your 


26 


The Solution 


own good,” Tier stepmother would say, who opposed 
Catherine vigorously. The idea of converting ordi- 
nary water into a beneficial one by simply adding 
an attachment had seemed too preposterous to them 
for serious contemplation. Finally there was a tacit 
understanding that the subject should not be men- 
tioned. 

Catherine's reflection that her things might not 
be welcome did not deter her, however. She packed 
vigorously. When she had finished she dragged the 
ponderous bags out into the spacious square hall. 

“I’ll send a call for them to-night, and just write 
that they are coming,” she said. 

Then she looked at the improved order of things, 
and reflected, with great relief, that one could now 
find a place to sit in contort without seeming to 
intrude one’s self on literature or art objects. The 
one big window-seat she would keep for a studio, and 
the other for a combined aquarium and laboratory, 
she decided. So, with a parting glance at what now 
appeared to be a nice cozy room she departed in 
search of her solitary evening meal. She wandered 
up Fulton Street looking in each restaurant to see 
how inviting it looked, and if there were ladies at 
the tables. 

She finally came to a restaurant with the demo- 
cratic cognomen of “Joe’s” and noticed that the 
waiters were attired in faultless white. There was 
some appreciation of art, too, for the walls were 


The Solution 


27 


decorated with pretty mosaics. She thought she 
would give “Joe’s” place a trial. She found the 
service and the food good but she did not enjoy it 
to the extent it merited. She was thinking of 
“M. K. S.,” and wondering if she would return to- 
night. 

When she reached her room again she made herself 
comfortable and rested her hand lightly upon the 
paper as before. But this puzzling thought kept 
coming to her. “Why, if it is possible to communi- 
cate in this way, did not the experience come before 
Anyway, it probably is the subconscious mind, which 
is known to be a great impersonator, she thought. 
Her hand did hot move at all now, and she felt dis- 
tinctly disappointed. “Perhaps my mind isn’t pas- 
sive enough,” Catherine thought. Her hand quiv- 
ered, but did not actually move. Finally it did 
move. And then, in a rather large and clear scrawl 
it wrote, “M. K. S. is so glad to tell you that she still 
lives, and is much happier than when on the earth 
plane.” 

Catherine then wrote, “If this is really my mother, 
cannot you say something reassuring and convinc- 
ing?” 

The reply was : “I am with you always, even when 
you are busiest, and I will never leave you.” 

This was a very lovely thought, but it did not 
serve to convince Catherine. She was so accus- 
tomed to look for physical cause and effect that she 


28 


The Solution 


was somewhat out of touch with the spiritual. She 
thought she had become too literal. 

Catherine wrote: “Are you with papa and Nella 
also.?” 

“They are ever in my thoughts, but I am not 
their guide. I am yours.” 

“Does this mean that you are with me all of the 
time.?” 

“M. K. S. does not leave you unless you are sleep- 
ing. Then she often takes you up in the eighth plane 
where we have many friends.” 

Catherine remembered that she was familiar with 
the sensation of having returned from afar when she 
aWoke. But she had always thought it a vague 
dream. She now made no attempt to ask a question 
but remained relaxed. Soon the hand started again 
and wrote: 

“M. K. S. is waiting for you and Papa to come.” 

Visions of the traditional heaven, where the in- 
habitants played on golden harps and wore crowns 
came to Catherine, and she could but smile at the 
thought of her father in this position. So she asked : 
“Will papa have to play a harp.? Are there no 
funny or witty spirits.?” 

The reply was : “M. K. S. thinks that Papa would 
be very much out of place playing a harp. He will 
simply develop along the lines of what his individu- 
ality has been on the earth. Yes, we do have witty 
spirits here, who make harmless sport of things 


The Solution 


29 


which are not sacred. But they do not have their 
merriment at the expense of some other spirit. Your 
‘fun^ on earth is usually at the expense of some other 
mortal.” 

Catherine stopped to slip another piece of paper 
under her hand. But when the pencil again started 
it was nothing but scrawls. She did not understand 
this, so she willfully stopped. After a few moments 
she again relaxed, and the pencil wrote: “There was 
no other spirit trying to interfere, as you thought. 
M. K. S. will not allow it. But sometimes you try to 
control your hand, and then I cannot write. Some- 
times I wish to express something which I cannot 
readily translate into your symbols.” 

Catherine confessed to herself that night as she 
retired that she could not understand this phenome- 
non. But whatever the power was, it did seem to 
have good sense, a quality she had found to be lack- 
ing in any manifestations purporting to come from 
spirit land which she had seen or heard previously. 
She wondered if their seeming incoherency might not 
have resulted from their inability to express them- 
selves in the symbols of the earth plane. 

After she was quietly in bed and composed she 
thought over the advisability of telling her experi- 
ence to any one. She decided that she would wait 
until she had made better headway with her theory 
of oxygenating the blood through the drinking of 
water. They might say that her mind had been 


30 


The Solution 


affected as a result of too much study. But they 
certainly could not say that her health had been 
ruined. She had never been so well in her life. 
When first she had started to drink the water she 
had made a color card somewhat similar to those 
physicians use to determine the hemoglobin in the 
blood, the shades ran from the brilliant red of the 
arterial to the very dark red of the venous blood, 
when it becomes entirely lacking in oxygen, and is 
much polluted. Her training as an artist served her 
well in those observations, for the slightest change in 
form or color was quickly noted by her. 

She had noted the color of her venous blood when 
she started to drink the water, and she had noted it 
at various periods afterward, with the result that 
the blood became three shades lighter. It had taken 
some time to do this. 

Even Franklin commented on the improved ap- 
pearance of Catherine. He also remarked that she 
no longer had colds. He became an enthusiastic 
supporter, and this cemented their friendship. 
Catherine felt the need of enthusiasm from some one, 
and he, in a measure took the place of her dear 
friend Miss Russell. She now concluded that with 
the data she had collected and her own case, she 
ought to report to her doctor. He seemed pleased 
with her progress and told her to continue collect- 
ing data, preferably through physicians. There 
were some convincing things about the water, as her 


The Solution 


31 


own case proved. But there were still some phases 
about the water that she did not understand. The 
most pronounced of these was the effect upon elimi- 
nation. She had taken an Aquator with her and he 
asked her to explain its working in detail, which she 
was glad to do. He then promised her any observa- 
tions which he should make. 

“It will take some time to establish what you 
have already proved to your own satisfaction. But 
it is worth while, and do not get discouraged,” he 
told her. 

In about two weeks he telephoned for Aquators 
for both his town and country homes. So Catherine 
judged he was making observations; but she did 
not trouble him for an opinion for several months. 
She knew it would take a very long time. 


CHAPTER II 


Several evenings passed. Mills did not come in 
again with bills that he had collected for Catherine, 
and she began to wonder what could have happened. 
Although he had gone away in an irritable mood, 
his intensest anger usually exhausted itself in about 
fifteen minutes. Temporarily his temper also ex- 
hausted any innocent bystander who happened to 
be in the immediate vicinity. 

Catherine decided to telephone him. He recog- 
nized her voice at once and said : “Hello. Spent all 
the money I left when I was last in, I suppose. Well, 
I haven’t collected any more. And if I haven’t got 
any money I needn’t come around, I suppose. That’s 
just about what you said when I was in last.” 
Catherine was prepared for his raillery, and she an- 
swered good-naturedly, “Oh, nonsense! You know 
I want to see you, anyway.” But Mills was not to 
be mollified immediately, according to his wont. Be- 
fore long, he capitulated, however, and promised to 
be around that evening. Catherine hung up the 
receiver, convinced that she would have to handle 
Mills with more tact and diplomacy if she wanted 
him to collect the balance of her bills. 

When he came in his first remark was to compli- 
32 


The Solution 


33 


ment her on the improvement she had made in re- 
arranging her room. “I see you cleared a place to 
sit down now,” he said, “and also a place for your 
friends to sit. But what in the world are all of 
these things doing here yet.?” and he pointed to the 
row of little machines as if he considered them un- 
welcome usurpers of space. 

Mills’ contempt for the machines had notably in- 
creased since he had procured a cask of beer from 
a brewer with the object of experimenting. His 
practical mind had conceived what he thought to be 
a great idea. He told the brewer that he had a 
patent that would produce a superior article by in- 
jecting oxygen into the beer. To Mills’ disappoint- 
ment and chagrin the machine had “oxidized” the 
beer so thoroughly that it came out practically 
water. Mills did not have the nerve to approach 
the brewer again. Catherine urged him to report 
the result, anyway. But Mills argued, “That 
brewer’s a husky chap, and he might lick me if I 
told him I’d made water out of his beer.” This put 
Mills under the grave suspicion of having pro- 
cured the beer for personal use. One day he acci- 
dentally met the brewer who irately demanded to 

know what had become of the beer. “D^ stuff all 

went to water!” exclaimed Mills, and took to his 
heels. In telling the story afterwards Mills ex- 
plained : “I knew I could run faster than that old fat 
duffer, so I didn’t take any chances on getting 


34 


The Solution 


licked.” So Catherine understood Mills’ irritation 
when he saw her array of these offenders. She 
made a feeble effort to change the subject by re- 
marking that Franklin had gone home for a week. 

“Guess he’ll be blamed glad to get a rest from 
your eternal chatter about the machines,” said Mills. 

“It’s really not a machine, you know,” said 
Catherine, wishing now to take the defensive. “It’s 
a filter.” 

“By George ! Should think it was ! Filters so 
there’s nothing left.” 

“With beer as the objective, I don’t doubt that 
in the least,” said Catherine, with equanimity. 

“Good thing you didn’t live in the days when 
there were witches. You would have been burned for 
what that machine does. Now why in thunder didn’t 
you make a machine so it would turn water into 
beer.f^ Then people would consider it a Household 
Necessity.” 

“Practically all of your friends have made that 
suggestion. At least all of those who have heard of 
your experiment,” said Catherine, with considerable 
emphasis on the “your.” 

“Yes, by George! They have all heard of it, 
don’t take you long to circulate a j oke if the laugh’s 
on me.” 

Catherine again wished that he would get off the 
subject. She wanted to know if he had made any 
collections, but she was reticent about asking him. 


The Solution 


35 


“Oh, I have an idea,” she said, and draped a pretty 
Indian scarf over the offenders. “There now. 
Maybe you will be able to think of me for a moment 
when you don’t have to see the machines.” But she 
immediately realized that this had been an unfortu- 
nate remark. “Gosh blame it, anyway. That’s 
just what I don’t want to do. I’ve been trying to 
get you out of my mind !” 

“Oh, nonsense. Mills! You’ve always \been so 
good and faithful I thought we were going to be 
friends forever, — ^when you get over this idea you 
have for marrying. For me to marry and devote my 
time to making a home for you would be inhuman on 
my part from the observations I have of what these 
colloids can do. You are very good in business, but 
you know yourself that you have been detrimental 
rather than helpful to me where my experiments were 
concerned.” 

“Well, I haven’t been the only detrimental one. 
I don’t see that any one has encouraged you except- 
ing Miss Russell, who has gone away. Mr. Burrell 
just liked to encourage your fads, but you won’t 
have him any more to jolly you along. And Frank- 
lin, who don’t know any better, looks too frail to 
stand this city life for long. So you’ll probably 
lose him, too, before long. Now aren’t you alone 

“But,” remonstrated Catherine, “even if I don’t 
see these three I’m still conscious of their support. 
And even if I happened to be the only living person 


36 


The Solution 


in this world or on any other planet who knew the 
truth concerning certain things, then it would be 
all the more incumbent upon me to demonstrate that 
truth. I do not expect to be popular for the next 
few years. People who tell the truth and upset the 
old order of things seldom are popular, even though 
they eventually save thousands of lives. But I shall 
make friends, after a time, through benefiting 
others.” 

“People nearly always hate their benefactors,” 
said Mills. But he looked sober and less irritated. 

“Then I shall be doing right simply because I 
know that it is right,” replied Catherine, decisively. 
“That is one of mama’s precepts, you know.” 

“But I thought your mother’s sense of justice and 
your idea of doing right would be different. For 
she and all your family have opposed you in this 
experimenting business,” argued Mills. 

“For the reason that they do not know what I 
expect to accomplish. Do you honestly believe that 
any normal human being is opposed to saving life 
unless the opposition arises from ignorance.?^” 

“Yes,” said Mills, “if your method causes any- 
body to lose money. Then you would see how very 
little human lives counted.” 

Catherine knew that Mills’ practicality was incor- 
rigible. She looked exasperated. “It doesn’t seem 
possible to me that men can be so pin-headed, so 
near-sighted, and so utterly oyster-like that they 


The Solution 


37 


can’t see beyond their own petty shells of self-inter- 
est,” said Catherine. “But anyway, I know dif- 
ferent. There must be some men in the world who 
have vision, some big souls who want to help human- 
ity. It will be my business to find these.” 

“Oh, lots of them will wish you well, I’ve no doubt 
about that. But wait until you have asked them 
for money. Then their tune will change. Why 
even if you could accomplish in your lifetime all 
that you hope to do, it’s too big a thing for one 
person. You can’t swing such a big proposition 
alone. I’m just simply looking at things as they are 
to-day for you. Your business is gone, and no one 
is near on whom you can rely. Why, you are as 
alone as ‘The Last Rose of Summer.^ ” This was a 
poetic masterpiece of a simile, coming from prag- 
matic Mills. 

“Yes, I know,” said Catherine’s audible voice. 
But her inner voice seemed to whisper, “This it not 
true.” Then her face brightened perceptibly. “Per- 
haps not so alone as you think,” she added. 

“What are you thinking about now.?^” asked Mills, 
suspiciously. “Mr. Sporty Spots? I didn’t think 
he would still be on the carpet after letting that old 
rascal Roace get away with all your money. Then 
he cleared out himself, to cap the climax. “I don’t 
think you need ever expect any returns from that 
direction.” 

Catherine was piqued at his criticism of the well- 


38 The Solution 

meaning Mr. Spots. But she wanted to conciliate 
Mills. 

“As for my ever having cared for Mr. Spots,” 
she said, “you have had the facts of that case ever 
so many times over again. There’s absolutely noth- 
ing in it. He would be a good friend if he were here, 
and you know that, too. For he is naturally kind 
and optimistic.” 

“Should think he would want to be,” muttered 
Mills. “Do you know that, even after all of your 
years spent in work, study and experimenting, people 
at large will say you didn’t invent it.?* That is, if 
it turns out to be anything successful. They 
wouldn’t want to give a woman credit for doing any 
great big thing like you are trying to put over.” 

“Yes, they said Columbus was crazy, too. And 
whatever sea any Columbus chooses to attempt, it is 
by his courage that the stay-at-home minds are oft- 
times enriched. They say, too, that Shakespeare 
didn’t write his plays, or that Mrs. Eddy didn’t write 
‘Science and Health’ ; and so on down the line. We 
always find little minds trying to attract attention 
to themselves by detracting from the really great. 
Any one who accomplishes worth-while things must 
expect to meet with suspicion from the ignorant, and 
skepticism from the so-called ‘Intelligentsia.’ ” 

“Not only that, but even your own ‘friends’ will 
try to detract from what you have done. No, Mills, 
I draw the line there,” Catherine interposed. I 


The Solution 


39 


don’t think a single person who knows what I’ve 
come through, or even a tenth of it, will be mean 
enough to wish to detract from what I have done. 
Human nature isn’t as hard-hearted and spiteful as 
all that. I should never fear success for that rea- 
son.” 

Mills had run the gamut of dire possibilities apt 
to befall Catherine if she persisted in her obstinate 
resolve not to marry him, he therefore paused for a 
moment, then abruptly changed the subject. 

“What do you say, let’s go to see a show,” he 
suggested. 

“No,” said Catherine, refusing to become thus 
distracted, “for I’ve reached the point where amuse- 
ment doesn’t appeal so much as accomplishment.” 

“Oh, I know that. You reached that point years 
ago. But do you think when you’ve made the world 
all well and healthy that you will return to your 
former lively spirits? It’s pretty monotonous to 
talk to a person who never hears the half of what 
you are saying. Makes me think I’m in my dotage, 
and just talking to myself.” 

This change from a disappointed suitor to a com- 
rade was characteristic of the versatile Mills. It 
was a trait that had often misguided Catherine. 
Now she thought that he had settled into a real 
friend, at last. 

“Very well, then, let’s go,” she said, wishing to be 
agreeable. 


40 


The Solution 


Mills was elated by her change of mood. 

“All right. What would you like to see.^” 

“Oh, anything at all that’s good, or funny,” she 
told him. 

“Which probably means that you won’t know 
what you’re listening to.” 

“I’ll try to behave,” she promised. 

“All right, then. Now we’ll have to hustle up. 
It’s getting late,” 

So they went out, apparently good friends again. 
After they returned from the show he slipped a 
couple of checks into her hand. “Here’s some money 
I collected. If you had asked for it, you wouldn’t 
have got it from me, — ^but you didn’t,” he said. 
“Now when you want some more you’ll have to call 
me up, and come and get it, if I have any. That’s 
only business, you know; as you want to be so all- 
fired business-like I’m going to give you some of 
your own medicine for a change.” 

“Very well. I shall call you up,” said Catherine. 
But she felt a sudden sinking of the heart to think 
that his promised friendliness of earlier in the even- 
ing was spoiled. 

With the studio off her mind now, except for the 
few accounts that remained to be collected, Catherine 
found much more time to do her experimenting. 
Nearly every day now she went out to her labora- 
tory in the suburbs of Brooklyn where a little more 
steam or smoke did not shock nor alarm the neigh- 


The Solution 


41 


bors. Then she went to her shop near the old bridge 
for an hour or so ; and finally she went to see those 
who would help her to collect such data as she was 
compiling. This, with some reading in the evening 
and some answering of letters, kept her reasonably 
busy, but not rushed, as she had formerly been. 
Franklin was her only visitor now and her personal 
calling list had dwindled to but a few of her rela- 
tives. 

Catherine became curious to get an opinion from 
some one in authority concerning “ M. K. S.” But 
she did not think it a wise plan to discuss this phe- 
nomenon too promiscuously. She decided to submit 
some of the writing to the Society for Psychical 
Research. Through this she became acquainted with 
some of the workers there and found this new ex- 
perience very interesting. One evening Catherine 
asked “M. K. S.” if she would meet some of her new 
friends, having in mind certain persons who were 
interested in Psychical Research. Although Cath- 
erine sat relaxed as usual waiting for an answer, the 
pencil did not move for some time. Then it slowly 
traced : 

“M. K. S. does not wish to be asked silly ques- 
tions, many of which she cannot answer. Nor does 
she desire to make the acquaintance of persons who 
regard the spirits as fortune-tellers.” {Pause) 
“We see the future in a broad way, and not in de- 
tail, except in rare cases.” (Pauee) “M. K. S. will 


42 


The Solution 


have to impress you that she is your guide. That 
is her mission.” 

Catherine then asked: “Do I resemble you.^^ Some 
say that I do.” 

The pencil wrote immediately: “M. K. S. cannot 
see your face distinctly. She cannot tell exactly. 
The spirit is plainer to us and that is our guide for 
identification.” 

Catherine then asked this question, mentally : “Do 
mortals who die with impaired minds from age or 
other causes, awake with unimpaired mentality.'^” 

“M. K. S. knows that they awake here quite nor- 
mal. Age, it is supposed, is caused by an accumu- 
lation of earthly salts, and these are left in the 
body.” 

“Yes,” Catherine wrote this time, “that is a fa- 
vorite theory of mine. If we could continue to grow, 
we would use up these earthly salts, and at eighty, 
be as big as pine trees, but still young. Did you 
get that theory from my mind, or did you put it 
there in the first place 

“M. K. S. does not think that she put this idea 
in your mind. She knows it to be true, according 
to what is said here by those who should know. 
They might have inspired the thought in your mind.” 

“If everything we ate or drank was colloidal in 
nature would not it postpone age.?” Catherine 
wrote this out for she wished to make the question 
impressive. The answer came almost immediately: 


The Solution 


43 


“M. K. S. thinks it would have a great influence in 
postponing age; it is the hardening process which 
interferes with the free circulation of blood and 
hence with nutrition, — this is the most potent agency 
in the pathological process of age.” 

That superfluous salts (crystalline) accumulated 
in the bones and tissues, thus causing the hardening 
process Catherine had thought out for herself. She 
thought she had, at least. But the nutrition part 
was not hers. However, she thought that theory 
must be held by some, for it seemed to be logical. 

“How is it that you seem to be more logical than 
most spirits.^” Catherine wrote. 

“M. K. S. thinks it is because she is farther ad- 
vanced than most spirits who remain around the 
earth. She is staying here for a purpose and can 
go to higher realms at any time she chooses.” 

“Can you not go to Mars and return and tell the 
character of the inhabitants of that planet.?” asked 
Catherine. 

“M. K. S. is not so far advanced as your question 
implies. We are of the earth bom, and we have to 
continue within a certain radius for a long develop- 
ment. Finally we do mingle with the intelligences of 
other planets.” 

Catherine asked: “How do you measure time? 
Can you do so correctly?” 

“M. K. S. cannot say that we always measure 
time correctly. We have to be guided by diflTerent 


44 


The Solution 


things and by our own development, which is really 
the measure of time for us. If we have accom- 
plished much with our thought, it might be said to 
correspond to a certain length of time with you. 
Some live ten years, and others might live but one or 
two in the same space of time as measured by mor- 
tals.’^ 

“Do you have houses something like ours asked 
Catherine, mentally. 

“As thought is unto action, so are our dwellings 
unto yours. The beauty of our dwellings is only 
limited by our own thought. The structures are 
not made by hands as are yours. M. K. S.” 

Catherine then asked, mentally: “Are your eyes 
and hair as black as when you were on earth, and 
are you as beautiful as you have been described to 
me.?” 

“M. K. S. thinks her hair is as black and her eyes 
are as hrown as when she was on earth. But our 
beauty here is not of form, neither is it of color, but 
the beauty of thought lends its radiance and trans- 
cends that which was called beauty upon earth. We 
can become as beautiful as we choose or as we are 
capable of conceiving.” 

(Concerning! this message Catherine asked her 
father what color her mother’s eyes had been, and 
he said, “brown.”) 

Catherine did not ask any questions for a mo- 
ment or two ; but directly her hand started : “M. K. 


The Solution 


45 


S. finds that it does make for happiness when there 
is an object upon which to bestow affection — it is a 
wise provision made by the Creator. The ones we 
loved on earth most dearly are, as a rule, most dear 
to us here. Unless the love was of a purely earthly 
and selfish type, it becomes intensified. It is not 
necessary to be lonely here for we have not to pene- 
trate the obscuring mantle of the ‘Veil of Flesh’ ; the 
character is known instantly here. Therefore, there 
can be no misunderstandings. This is the rock 
upon which so many earthly friendships are 
wrecked.” 

Catherine asked in writing, “In other words, dear 
M. K. S., you can do away with this humbuggery 
of words to which so many of us mortals are en- 
chained, and still be understood.^” 

“Yes, and understood far more completely than 
mere words or symbols can convey. M. K. S.” 

Catherine waited a few minutes, but there was no 
further message. Presently the pencil wrote, “You 
are tired. Have a good rest. Good night.” 

Catherine realized that she was tired, indeed. She 
noticed that she was always tired after the writing. 
But she also noted that she slept very soundly, often 
waking at daybreak without having moved. She 
decided that anything tending to produce such sound 
sleep could not be harmful. 

In the morning when she awoke she thought over 
the messages of the previous night and wondered 


46 


The Solution 


if there could be knowledge of colloidal solutions on 
another plane. Catherine had turned her attention 
to them with a great deal of interest. At this time 
there was nothing in the public library on the sub- 
ject. The information she could gather in the medi- 
cal library was rather meager. However, all the 
effects of the water could not be accounted for by 
an oxidizing agent, or the oxygen alone. She 
thought that the slow effect of the water was prob- 
ably caused by the oxygen, but that any immediate 
effects were probably caused by the colloid. 

The physicians whom she saw were not able to 
give her information on the subject, as the colloids 
were then comparatively new and very few had even 
tried them. Then she thought of writing to the 
medical schools where they did such experimenting 
to see if they were interested in helping her. She 
got one reply, and she sent a machine for the experi- 
ments ; but the good professor never did get the time. 
Then she wrote to the State Board of Health ; they 
only recognized the absence of bacteria in water — 
that was the standard of water, they said. 

“In fact,” said Catherine, “any water that won’t 
kill a person is a ‘good-enough-water’ ! Oxygen did 
not interest these good gentlemen; they probably 
thought it was superfluous.” 

Then Catherine went to a man of influence whom 
she knew and who happened to have Bright’s dis- 
ease. He used his influence, but it was of no avail. 


The Solution 


47 


“Any water that would not kill a person” remained 
the standard. Why, they had never heard of a 
water that would prevent disease unless it came from 
some ‘Spa’; they never had heard of it, and they 
apparently never wanted to hear of it. But the 
man with Bright’s disease took a machine on Cathe- 
rine’s doctor’s recommendation that it was “a very 
fine water.” 

“I do not recommend it yet as curative, for it is 
too new. But I do know that it is a very fine water,” 
the doctor told him. 

“Well, I should like to give it a trial,” said the 
man. Catherine was pleased when he wrote, asking 
if she would sell him a machine. “Do you think it 
will do me any good.?”’ he asked. “I cannot get any 
insurance on account of my kidneys.” 

“A good doctor should know whether or not the 
oxygen would be beneficial,” replied Catherine. 

The man laughed. “You would not make a very 
clever salesman for your goods.” 

“Perhaps not. But I know my doctor very well, 
and while I know the water better than he, he should 
be the judge of its efficacy.” 

“Well, I must congratulate your doctor on your 
admiration for him, and your respect for his opinion. 
But I am going to try a machine if you will sell me 
one.” 

After three months the man called her up and 
informed her that he had passed his examination for 


48 


The Solution 


insurance and had taken out a large sum. “I had 
tried for years before and failed, so I am giving 
your water machine the credit,” he told her. 

Occurrences of this kind buoyed Catherine’s hopes 
and made it imperative that she fight on. On the 
other hand, there were some who called her an im- 
poster, without having the slightest idea of what she 
had done or the method of doing it. At first 
Catherine became angry at these accusations, but 
after a time she learned to ignore. She found it 
necessary for the furtherance of her work that she 
keep her peace of mind. Mills was still collecting 
her outstanding debts and this brought them to- 
gether occasionally. Since the Aquator seemed 
to have made good in several specific instances, he 
began to acquire some interest in it. It was beyond 
him to have enthusiasm for water in any form, how- 
ever. But he would say, “You are really the ‘Water 
Witch’ that Spots used to call you.” 

He never saw her without alluding to Mr. Spots. 
Catherine would tell him frankly whether or not she 
had heard from him. She did not wish Mills to have 
the idea that she was interested in any particular 
man. She appreciated his good qualities and would 
have liked to have kept liim as a friend. But she 
knew this was not possible, as he wanted a home. 
So after the bills were finally all settled, they met 
but seldom. 

Catherine’s landlady was much interested in the 


The Solution 


49 


water, which she had drunk freely. “My, but it has 
made a big change in me, that water,” she said. “It 
has made my complexion better, too.” 

“Do you think I can become a beauty doctor, 
now.?” said Catherine. 

“Well, lots of people don’t care if they are healthy, 
but they all want to be beautiful,” she commented. 

In moments of retrospection, however, the condi- 
tion that made Catherine unhappy was that all her 
friends except Miss Russell and Franklin, had only 
silence or discouragement, and she longed very much 
to see Miss Russell again, who had been promising 
for many months to come down to the city for a 
visit. She felt lonely, so she composed herself for a 
visit with “M. K. S.” 

“M. K. S.” had disclaimed powers of prophecy, as 
a rule, but sometimes Catherine was prompted by 
curiosity to learn if she deviated. So far she had 
never been able to get anything more positive than 
“M. K. S. thinks,” or “M. K. S. believes.” How- 
ever, when asked to define a person’s character she 
did so promptly and with considerable accuracy. 
Catherine did not believe in consulting the spirits or 
subconscious on matters of business. She thought 
that we should know conditions better than they did, 
and if “M. K. S.” offered advice she weighed it care- 
fully. She was not entirely convinced that “M. K. 
S.’^ was not her subjective mind. But there came 
one message that inclined her to think differently. 


50 


The Solution 


She had asked “M. K. S.” if she had seen her father 
lately, and the reply was, “M. K. S. was at his bed- 
side some few days ago when he was sleeping.’’ 

“Will he remember asked Catherine. 

“Yes, he will remember,” was the answer. 

Catherine made a mental note of this and decided 
to ask her father when she went home a few days 
later. She stopped at her sister Nella’s for dinner, 
and after they had chatted for a few moments, Nella 
said, “Papa is feeling blue. A few nights ago he 
said our mother appeared to him and tapped him 
on the shoulder three times. He thinks this means 
that he is going to be ill or die. He says it was no 
dream, — that he actually saw her.” 

Catherine did not mention this incident to any one 
except at the Psychical Research; and she did not 
explain it to Nella. But she considered it more 
evidential than any message she had so far received. 
Whether “M. K. S.” was the spirit of her mother or 
simply a manifestation of her own subconscious self, 
the messages played a dominant part in that they 
were often of an encouraging nature. They inspired 
Catherine to keep up her confidence in herself and 
in what she was to accomplish, through many a dark 
hour. 

Franklin came in regularly twice a week and they 
often dined together. He was young and ambitious, 
and his ambition might eventually become his undo- 
ing. For in addition to his business Franklin sat 


The Solution 


51 


up at all hours of the night to read and study. 
When Catherine remonstrated he would reply, “Well, 
if I drink enough water it will keep me going, 
won’t it.?” 

Catherine thought it doubtful. She answered, 
“You do not need anything to stimulate you. You 
have too much nervous energy anyway. In this life 
some of us must learn to work, and some must learn 
to play.” 

So Franklin with his nervous energy and Catherine 
with her composure made a well-balanced pair for 
friendship. They amused one another, which proved 
to be a good thing for them both. Quite a few 
months had passed when Catherine thought she would 
venture to see her doctor again. She was anxious 
to have the candid opinion of trained men like him- 
self, for she knew it was upon their opinions that she 
must depend. 

The doctor was genuinely glad to see her. He 
outlined to her what he thought were the features 
of the water and in what field it would find its great- 
est usefulness. “Sometime,” he said, “I will give 
you a letter with my clinical observations. This, of 
course, will be for you to use in the profession. I 
have only as yet had time to make a sort of survey. 
When I get enough to become really convincing, 
then you may expect the letter.” 

The doctor rang his desk bell, and the doorman 
appeared. 


62 The Solution 

“Here, James, tell Miss Summers about your ex- 
perience,” he said. 

Whatever the experience was Catherine did not 
learn, for James only grinned. 

“I see he does not want to tell. But I, as a doc- 
tor, can say the water has been making a man of 
James. All right, you may go,” and James disap- 
peared. 

“Now, Miss Summers,” he said, “you will have a 
great deal of discouragement, but you are on the 
right track. Keep up the good work !” 

“The question which I particularly wanted to ask 
you was this : What in your opinion constituted the 
efficacy of the machine, the oxygen or the colloidal 
solutions or both.?” 

“I am not prepared to answer that. It will take 
more time, perhaps quite some time,” he answered. 

“Not much is known in this country of colloidal 
solutions, is there.?” Catherine asked. 

“No, they don’t know much about them. They 
don’t want to know.” 

The last statement evidently was a slip, and - 
Catherine had the good sense not to ask questions. 
She knew, even at this early stage, that there was 
some hidden force in opposition. 

“I expect great things of the colloids when they 
are developed, — but it takes a long time, a very long 
time,” he added. 

Catherine rose to go, for a number of patients 


The Solution 


53 


were waiting. “Come in again after a while, and 
maybe I will have something more definite for you,” 
he told her. 

Catherine continued to write to universities sup- 
posed to be interested in bettering the health of man- 
kind. But she found none willing to be interested 
in oxygenating the blood through the drinking of 
colloidal water. She concluded that they did not 
think it possible to prevent disease by purifying the 
blood. They were all too busy isolating germs, 
which was all right, as far as it went but, as the 
nervous system developed in man, there were likely 
to be germs too minute to isolate. What then? 

She had been told that the universities in England, 
and indeed the government itself, would be glad to 
investigate such an important theory. She made 
up her mind to go there and try. Then the war 
started, and no one could tell when it would all end. 
She thought it might have been her imagination, but 
it did seem as though there were disembodied spirits 
all about. She had that impression after the war 
started, and it persisted. However, she deemed it 
expedient not to speak of it, for she was trying to 
inculcate hard facts into hard heads. She found 
her greatest obstacles were the men who occupied 
prominent positions, but who hid behind the childish 
reasoning, “I don’t believe.” 

What right had men who had never used the col- 
loids to express an opinion, and of what value 


54 


The Solution 


was it after it was expressed? Even after physi- 
cians of standing had stated their experiences, she 
was still confronted with the vague and childish “I 
don’t believe.” They had nothing tangible to found 
their belief on. Catherine finally challenged one of 
these men. She told him she had the facts to back 
up her statements, and asked him to produce facts 
to back up his beliefs. This letter was not answered 
directly, but after that there was less heard of “I 
don’t believe,” from that quarter, at least. 

Summer came again, and Catherine would have 
liked to go home more often. But since she 
had had a misunderstanding with her mother she 
had gone there only at irregular intervals. The 
subject of her experimenting was now never alluded 
to. She knew that it was purposely ignored. As 
that subject was uppermost in Catherine’s mind, her 
visits home had become a few days of repression, and 
nothing gained. She had not been home for several 
months when a letter came from her sister, saying 
that her mother was very ill. A telegram followed, 
summoning her home at once. 

She obeyed the summons without delay ; and upon 
her arrival found that all of her stepmother’s rela- 
tives had also been sent for. Her sister said she 
was glad Catherine had arrived before her mother 
died, as they had not thought she would live through 
the night. Catherine was really fond of her step- 
mother, although they had differed on many sub- 


The Solution 


55 


jects. It hurt her terribly to hear the weak voice 
plead for ‘‘something or somebody to help her.” 

The doctor came and said, “I will not come again 
unless sent for,” and he, too, looked grieved. Cathe- 
rine followed him out on the porch. 

“Do you think I might give my mother some col- 
loidal water, doctor.?^” she asked. 

“If she can swallow it, you may if you wish to. 
But it is quite useless, I think. However, it can do 
no harm. At such times we neither thwart the rela- 
tives nor the patient.” 

“Thank you. Then I will try it with the help of 
the nurse.” 

Catherine procured a water boat from a neighbor 
and tried to have her mother take the water. The 
patient had now become partially unconscious. The 
nurse was more accustomed to the handling of in- 
valids in this state than Catherine, so after a few 
minutes she undertoook the feeding of the water. 
Everybody in the room, except Catherine, believed 
this procedure useless. Catherine thought when she 
first looked at her mother, that she must be dying 
of a poison which there was no known way of elimi- 
nating; and she had seen the colloidal water do some 
very surprising things in the way of elimination. 

This was exactly what it did do, apparently. Her 
mother began to rally about half an hour after the 
nurse succeeded in getting down the first quart of 
water. The nurse then asked Catherine to sit up 


56 


The Solution 


with her, for she said she did not think the rally 
would be permanent. This Catherine was glad to do 
for the others were worn out with their vigils. How- 
ever, Mrs. Summers surprised the nurse by a con- 
tinued rally, and at two o’clock in the morning, 
insisted upon eating. The nurse warned Catherine 
that “this was a very bad sign. But we may as well 
indulge her. The doctor says that nothing mat- 
ters.” 

Catherine cut a generous piece of sponge cake, 
and her mother ate it with relish. She then asked 
for some bread and milk. The nurse thought this a 
still more “ominous sign,” but Catherine simply 
said: 

“The poison has been eliminated, as you see and 
know. It is but natural that she should be hungry 
now, for she is relieved of what was killing her.” 
Still the nurse was unconvinced. “You will see her 
sink again, and that will be the last,” she predicted. 

“Well, then, suppose we give her the bread and 
milk, for that will be the last thing she will ask for, 
according to your theory,” said Catherine. 

“I suppose we might just as well,” and she then 
prepared the bread and milk, which Mrs. Summers 
also ate. 

In the morning the doctor was sent for again. 
To his profound amazement he found the patient’s 
heart improved, and general conditions satisfactory. 
He would not admit that the water had the influence, 


The Solution 


57 


and Catherine did not press the subject. She knew 
that it took many observations to prove a fact. 
But in time, she expected to have them. 

Mrs. Summers continued to improve very slowly. 
But considering that she had little on which to 
build, it was all that could be expected, the doctor 
said. But the event naturally brought Catherine 
into renewed favor with her stepmother. It had 
been Catherine’s wish that her mother should live 
to see that she was justified in persevering with her 
experiments. She had not expected, however, to 
meet with so dramatic a demonstration in her own 
family. 

As Catherine’s mother had never drunk the water 
before her illness, and her father had been equally 
obdurate, it seemed a stroke of good fortune that she 
should have had this chance to demonstrate its cura- 
tive properties. The doctor was liberal, and he 
offered to make some observations. 

The next day those who had been called to mourn 
went home to rejoice, and Catherine was amongst 
them. They had not harbored the least faith in her 
work, any more than Mrs. Summers had. But now 
they were inclined to look with more respect on her 
‘‘fad,” and encouraged her to talk about it. This 
was a new turn in the trend of events. 


CHAPTER III 


Months went by. But Catherine did not accom- 
plish what she expected to do. She only succeeded 
in getting a bit of information here and there. In 
spite of her earnest endeavors to get help not one 
of our great universities with its unlimited resources 
opened its doors to her. No rich man put up a 
farthing. What little help she did get was given 
by people who had to make sacrifices in order to 
aid her. Not one of our great public laboratories 
with aU its philanthropically endowed millions cared 
to give her idea a try-out. 

What should interest the people most, as a whole? 
The commonwealth, Catherine thought. The gift of 
health and longevity to future generations. The 
physical and metaphysical survival of the human 
race. Yet the interest of the average person cen- 
tered, primarily, on himself. This, unfortunately, 
has always been the greatest difficulty in putting any 
new thing across. If the individual is not interested 
he is apt to remain indifferent. But that this should 
also be true of the great universities, the learned 
medical societies, and the immense laboratories, was 
a revelation to Catherine. 

The summer of 1916 came, and with it the epi- 
58 


The Solution 


69 


demic of poliomyelitis, more popularly known as 
infantile paralysis. Now Catherine had no means 
of knowing from observation that her machine would 
be of use. But most intelligent persons do know 
that if the blood is very pure there is far less danger 
of catching any disease. So she offered all the 
machines she had made to the Health Commissioner. 
He was, presumably, too busy with his staff “isolat- 
ing the germ,” as he called it, to think anything 
about pure blood being a valuable precaution ; so her 
offer was refused. Though this evasive germ was 
reported “isolated” many times, a specific was not 
forthcoming. The germ was reported so much “iso- 
lated” that Catherine began to have a fellow feeling 
for it. She knew what it was to be isolated, and 
did not doubt but that some people would have liked 
to “isolate” her still more. 

During her rounds in this epidemic she met a Dr. 
Howell, who happened to be using the colloids. She 
told him of her work and immediately they became 
friends. He asked her to go with him to see some 
cases and watch the developments. She was very 
glad of this opportunity. She had loaned out her 
machines, independent of the Health Commissioner, 
and she could devote her time to doing whatever 
good there was to do. She watched Dr. Howell’s 
cases with keen interest. The doctor’s patients were 
mostly at their summer homes, and long rides had 
to be taken. But the information Catherine gath- 


60 


The Solution 


ered on colloids repaid her for all her trouble. The 
doctor sent a suggestion to one of the newspapers, 
for they were then publishing the remedies suggested 
by different doctors daily, so hoping to find a 
remedy that could be brought into general use 
quickly. 

At the very height of the epidemic, Catherine re- 
ceived a letter from her sister Nella, saying that her 
doctor was convinced that she had had infantile 
paralysis when she was very young, and that had 
caused her present lameness. He wanted her to give 
some immune blood; but Nella’s husband opposed 
this, saying that Nella was not strong enough. 

Catherine, being the younger, could not remember 
her sister’s illness. Nor could she remember her 
own; but she had been told that they both came 
down with the mysterious disease the same day. She 
had entirely recovered, but Nella had never gotten 
over the lameness. As a girl, Nella had been more 
robust than Catherine. But now the case was re- 
versed. Immediately Catherine thought that if she 
could be useful to those who were battling with the 
epidemic, even though they were not fighting in the 
most efficient way, that it became her duty to assist 
them. She asked her doctor for his advice. His 
opinion was the same as that of Nella’s doctor, that 
she had had the paralysis and recovered. 

Catherine then lost no time in going to the Wil- 
lard Parker Hospital. There she met another offer- 


The Solution 


61 


ing blood, a buxom young woman who was giving her 
blood to save her brother. Together with a num- 
ber of doctors from out of town who were making 
observations they proceeded to the operating room, 
all enveloped in white. Catherine was selected first, 
possibly for the reason that her composure might 
lend confidence to the other young woman. She 
mounted the table and stretched out her arm over the 
table adjoining. The attending physician pro- 
ceeded to try to locate the vein. In Catherine’s 
case the vein happened to be deep. The physician 
had some trouble in finding it, and he was taken 
with a violent nose-bleed himself, much to the amuse- 
ment of the other physicians. 

When he did succeed in finding it the blood was 
of a very bright red, and one of the physicians re- 
marked that it looked like arterial blood. This 
made the nose-bleed rather worse, for that would 
have been a serious mistake, indeed. Catherine felt 
sorry for the attending physician, although the 
situation was not an easy one for herself. She 
vouchsafed the information, at this juncture, that 
her blood was very bright in color, and that she 
thought he had the vein. He said he knew he had 
from the lack of pulsation. As the blood flowed, 
Catherine felt peculiar glow and exhilaration; she 
became very warm, and her cheeks became brightly 
flushed. She could feel the blood ebbing away from 
her, but its passing had no terror. 


62 


The Solution 


‘‘How much do you weigh?” asked the attending 
physician. 

“About a hundred and forty,” said Catherine. 

“I think we have enough, then,” he said, “there 
are twelve ounces here.” 

“You may have more if you wish — I do not mind 
it,” Catherine told him. 

“No, but we might want you again in about three 
weeks, so think this will be sufficient. Will you give 
us your name for publication?” 

“No, not for publication. I am not looking for 
that sort of reward. I came to help the authorities 
in the way they have chosen to battle with the epi- 
demic. If I have helped some poor children I shall 
be glad.” 

One of the doctors tried to assist her from the 
table. But she got up readily before he could help 
her and went in to get her hat and wrap. The at- 
tending physician, on seeing her intention to leave 
at once, remonstrated. 

“No, you had better rest here a while,” he said, 
in an excited way, “for if anything happens it will 
be blamed on me.” 

Then one of the visiting doctors came over and 
said, “You have most extraordinary reactive powers, 
but I would advise you not to go out too soon. It is 
not customary after the loss of so much blood. 
Better be on the safe side.” 


The Solution 


63 


The attending physician called a nurse and asked 
her to take charge of Miss Summers in the waiting 
room. Now Catherine could not see the necessity 
of so much solicitude being shown for her. She felt 
perfectly well, rather overstimulated, if anything. 
She did not want to lie down, and she wouldn’t. 
After a parley, she persuaded the nurse to get her 
“white envelope,” as she called it, and she would 
visit the wards. She wanted to see the children. 
She went through the wards and saw some very piti- 
ful sights. She was glad that she could do her 
mite. But she felt that the colloids would help all 
these children more than the blood. It was more 
than half an hour before the doctor sent for Cathe- 
rine. Then they all marched off together in white 
regalia, looking very much like a masquerade party, 
Catherine thought. 

The other young woman who gave blood was not 
so fortunate as Catherine. She felt faint after they 
had left the hospital. Catherine took her to her 
car. 

“You had better get home right away, yourself,” 
she advised Catherine. “You may have some kind 
of a reaction later on.” 

“I do not feel weak, and I hope that I do not look 
sick. Good-by.” She helped the girl on the car. 
“I hope you get home safely.” 

“Thanks. And the same to you.” 


64 


The Solution 


Catherine walked up to Twenty-third Street, at- 
tended to some business, and took a car home. But 
the predicted ‘‘reaction” did not come. 

Catherine continued to do what she could during 
the epidemic. But she was unable to gather much 
information. For the poorer people, with whom she 
had left most of the machines, were unmethodical, 
and she was not able to rely on what they said. The 
doctors, too, were mostly too busy to make observa- 
tions. Shortly after the epidemic, however, she re- 
ceived two letters which seemed to indicate that the 
other machines had done some good. One specific 
case was that from the father of a family who were 
summering at Sharon, Connecticut. Two of the 
children were stricken with what was pronounced 
to be poliomyelitis by the attending physician. One 
of the children became completely paralyzed in both 
legs and on one side of the face. 

The doctor they had summoned seemed to know 
but little about the disease. But at the request of 
a well-known New York physician one of Catherine's 
Aquators was sent for. The children were given 
from six to eight glasses of the water each day, and 
their recovery was complete except for a slight facial 
paralysis which remained in the younger one. In 
view of the fact that no medicine or massage was 
given the cure resulting from only the free use of 
the water seemed little short of miraculous. 

Catherine continued to go to see different cases 


The Solution 


65 


with Dr. Howell until the epidemic was practically 
over. Her knowledge of colloidal suspension and 
colloidal medication was considerably augmented by 
this experience. She had probably never been more 
enthusiastic than after the epidemic. She urged the 
doctor to write an article and cite his cases, which 
he did. But it so happened that he submitted it to 
a medical journal whose policy seemed to oppose 
colloids. 

“Why do they oppose colloids.'^” asked Catherine. 

“You cannot expect,’^ said the doctor, “institu- 
tions that are heavily endowed for the purpose of 
finding specific remedies, to support the colloids — 
it would not be their policy to do so.” 

“Let them continue to try to isolate the germ,” 
said Catherine. “But why not save life when it is 
possible 

“Evidently, that method does not seem to be to 
their best interests,” he told her. 

After the epidemic was entirely over Catherine 
collected her Aquators, as they were called. She 
left two or three where the families were sickly, which 
was all she thought she could afford. Some of the 
machines had been badly treated and they all had 
to go back to the shop to be put in repair again. 
This made her quite some work and extra expense. 

It had now been some months since Catherine had 
heard from Miss Russell. So she was greatly pleased 
to get a letter stating that she had taken a little 


66 


The Solution 


apartment and was coming down for a few months 
to New York. She asked Catherine to come to din- 
ner the following Wednesday as she hoped to be 
settled by that time. She did not want Catherine 
to come before she had her things in order, for she 
simply wanted to have one of their good old-time 
chats again. This was great news for Catherine, 
who looked forward with impatience to the next 
Wednesday. Although she had written to Miss 
Russell it had been many months since she had 
seen her. There was so much to tell that had not 
been written. 

Wednesday night came at last, and Catherine 
went up to the little apartment on upper Broadway. 
It was in one of the older apartments, but very 
pretty. There was no elevator, and Catherine, 
fairly throbbing with expectation, climbed the white 
marble stairs. 

She knocked at the door, but there was no re- 
sponse. She thought that she might have knocked 
at the wrong apartment. But no, there was Miss 
Russell’s card, plainly enough. She took out her 
purse then, and reread the letter. She rang the 
bell again, wondering what the mistake could be. 
Then she knocked very hard. Still there came no 
answer, roreboding came over her. What if her 
dear friend had been there alone and had been 
stricken with some sudden disease.'^ 

Her knocking had summoned a very kindly-faced 


The Solution 


67 


woman from the adjoining' apartment. She looked 
at Catherine for a few minutes as if debating with 
herself on what she should say. She had a difficult 
task before her, apparently. 

“Miss Russell was taken very sick here the day 
after she came to town, I believe. The janitor tele- 
graphed her relatives and two of them came, but she 
never knew them. Then she died, after only three 
days’ illness.” 

Catherine felt dizzy. The woman took her hand. 
“Won’t you come in and sit down.?” she asked, kindly. 
“I did not know that you were a particular friend 
of hers, or I should asked you before.” 

Down the marble stair Catherine saw through the 
haze of her grief a big window with a wide seat. “I 
want air. I will be all right then.” 

The lady guided her down the steps and Catherine 
was soon revived by taking deep breaths from the 
open window. The lady apologized for having been 
so abrupt in breaking the sad news. 

“I thought they would have informed her immedi- 
ate friends. But, you see, she died only yesterday 
and I suppose they have not had time. They took 
her body away this morning.” 

During the moments that the woman talked, 
Catherine was thinking somewhat in the panoramic 
way of people in their last moments when they are 
drowning. So many things passed in swift review. 
But she seemed to hear perfectly what the woman 


68 


The Solution 


said. It seemed she had two active minds, one think- 
ing with great rapidity, the other slowly noting 
every word that fell from the lips of -the strange 
lady. When she asserted her will long enough to 
ask, “Who was the doctor.^” the strange duality dis- 
appeared. 

“He was Dr. Shelley, a very good doctor. The 
janitor came right to me and I sent for him at once. 
It was a sort of pneumonia, the doctor said, and 
they had no known remedy for it.’^ 

This last remark caused Catherine’s face to be- 
come blanched. 

“Yes, there is a remedy,” she said, quickly. “If 
they had only sent for me! I might have helped 
her !” 

“Are you a physician .P” the lady asked. 

“No, I’m not a physician. But I know physi- 
cians. Some are very skillful in treating what is 
known as the new pneumonia. She might have been 
saved. Oh, if I had only known in time I” 

“But I don’t think there was any hope. She was 
more or less unconscious from the time she first took 
sick.” 

“Yes, I know the symptoms of the disease. But 
there is a remedy. She could at least have had a 
chance I But she didn’t — she didn’t I” Then 
Catherine in her grief reproached herself for not 
coming right up as soon as she had the letter. She 
could have helped with the moving. Miss Russell 


The Solution 69 

had wanted to have everything nice for her; that 
was like her, alwa^^ so unselfish. 

' “It is very kind of you to have done what you 
could. That which you omitted was not your fault. 
In fact, it was nobody’s fault exactly. It just had 
to be. Now I thank you very sincerely for taking 
care of her. But this is a dreadful loss to me — she 
was the dearest friend I ever had, and I never expect 
to find another like her,” said Catherine. 

“I am so sorry for you. Won’t you let me give 
you a cup of tea before you go? It is all ready.” 

Catherine had noticed a maid come to the door 
twice without speaking. 

“No thank you, I am quite all right now. I 
thank you very much for your kindness to my friend 
and to me. But I will not keep you longer now.” 

“If there is anything further I can do I shall be 
very glad.” 

Catherine’s thoughts as she rode home were filled 
with regret, — regret that she had not insisted 
that Miss Russell drink the water. She had told 
Catherine that she could not drink water, so she 
had not sent her a machine. She regretted that she 
had not gone directly to Miss Russell’s as soon as 
she had received the letter. For then, even if she 
had been taken ill of this fatal pneumonia Catherine 
knew that she would have had a very good chance 
of recovery. She realized as never before the tragic 
truth of the words of the couplet. 


70 


The Solution 


“Of all sad words of tongue or pen, 

The saddest are these, 

It might have been!’^ 

She went directly home, having forgotten to eat 
her dinner. As she sat in her favorite chair look- 
ing over at the brilliantly lighted windows of a 
church opposite a feeling of consolation came over 
her. She seemed to feel the presence of her friend; 
and her grief and regret passed away as though 
they had been but a transient cloud. Catherine had 
neglected to have her accustomed talks with “M. K. 
S.” but now she felt prompted again. She rose 
from the easy chair and took her pencil. Immedi- 
ately the writing came: “M. K. S. thinks that your 
friend will be of more help to you here than she was 
while on the earth plane. She will join the psychic 
forces that are trying to aid you. There are some 
who ‘though they be dead, still do they live,’ and 
more and more will this be the case.” 

Since her stay in Brooklyn Catherine had resumed 
an acquaintanceship with a Mr. Jerome, who had 
been an old friend of Mr. Burrell’s, and his friend 
was also a former acquaintance, a Miss Sutton. 
These two friends were interested in psychic phenom- 
ena and Catherine desired to have “M. K. S.” give 
them some messages sometime. But “M. K. S.” re- 
mained obdurate. She insisted that she did not want 
to meet strangers. Finally this evening she consented 


The Solution 


71 


to go with Catherine the following night. This was 
the first occasion upon which Catherine had tried 
'her automatic writing before any one. On account 
of the reluctance of “M. K. S.” she only half ex- 
pected her to appear, although “M. K. S.” had 
promised Catherine that she would never fail her. 

When she arrived at Miss Sutton’s apartment 
there were also another lady and gentleman there, 
whom Miss Sutton said she had not expected. 
Catherine sat down to write, but not without some 
misgivings. The pencil started in a few moments, 
rather to her surprise. But the sentence it wrote 
was totally irrelevant: “M. K. S. thinks the story of 
the Lady or the Tiger is grossly exaggerated.” 

Catherine had never received irrelevant messages 
before. She smiled at this, as did the others. 

“Ask her if she has any personal messages for any 
of us,” said Mr. Jerome, and Catherine wrote this at 
the top of a fresh page. The answer came: “M. K. 
S. does not feel well enough acquainted to give any 
messages of a personal character.” 

It appeared obvious that “M. K. S.” was not 
pleased. Then Catherine asked if she could give 
the auras of the different persons in the room. This 
she did. But she obstinately refused to admit that 
there was any white in the auras of the visiting man 
and woman. Catherine hoped that they did not 
know what this omission signified. She did insist, 
however, that there was much red. Catherine began 


72 


The Solution 


to feel like a mother who tries to show off a child 
that persistently tells the whole truth, and nothing 
but the truth. She thought it might become still 
more embarrassing if continued. So she did not 
allow her hand to move again. She simply asserted 
herself, and so the writing was discontinued. 

When the strange lady with her husband left 
early, Catherine tried again. 

‘‘Ask her if they sleep,” said Mr. Jerome. The 
reply was almost immediate. “No, we do not sleep 
as mortals do. For we do not lose consciousness. 
But we do rest. M. K. S.” 

“Ask her if they eat,” he continued. 

The reply was : “M. K. S. cannot say that we eat 
exactly as mortals do, but we do imbibe, or drink 
in, that which sustains us. But we do not masticate 
our food and we do not have it to digest.” 

“Will you repeat what you once said about the 
regeneration of the world.?” Catherine asked. 

“M. K. S. said that the regeneration of the world 
would be brought about by those who come over, 
who are unselfish and of high intelligence, remaining 
on the earth plane instead of progressing at once. 
These will unite and form a psychic force which will 
overcome the corrupted powers of the earth. If the 
world does not become better the races will destroy 
each other. For knowledge has grown faster than 
morality or unselfishness. The wise must learn that 
unselfishness is the only salvation of the physical 


The Solution 73 

world, as well as the spiritual world. They are 
commencing to learn this now.” 

“Ask her how she is dressed,” suggested Miss 
Sutton. 

“Ha ! ha ! You can’t get a woman off that sub- 
ject even when she gets to Heaven,” laughed Mr. 
Jerome. 

“M. K. S. is clothed in white which is opalescent. 
We do not wear ornaments here.” 

Catherine read the message, and Mr. Jerome re- 
marked, “Lots of women won’t want to go to heaven, 
then, I suspect.” 

“That wouldn’t influence me,” said Miss Sutton, 
who was the picture of demureness. 

“It is late,” said Catherine, “and I have to rise 
early.” 

Miss Sutton said, “Thank your mother for com- 
ing, and for her messages.” 

“She will hear you without my writing it, or even 
your saying it, I think,” said Catherine. 

When Catherine got to her own room she took a 
moment to ask “M. K. S.” why she had objected to 
the couple at Miss Sutton’s. The answer came: 
“M. K. S. did not object to the couple, but she had 
been asked to meet only the two friends who were 
believers. M. K. S. does not care to give messages 
to those who are strangers to you.” 

“Would you, dear M. K. S., mind meeting Prof. 
Hyslop in a private seance.?” 


74 


The Solution 


‘‘No, M. K. S. would not mind meeting Prof. 
Hyslop, but you would. Good-nigbt.”^ (Concern- 
ing this message Catherine did not know at the time, 
but later learned, that Prof. Hyslop, in his desire 
to be just, was sometimes very stern, and mediums 
often became confused.) 

This was very much to the point, Catherine 
thought, and it made her smile. She wrote “Good- 
night’^ under the message, arid then prepared to 
retire. She thought over the evening’s messages and 
decided that it would be best to arrange the person- 
nel of any meeting in future to suit “M. K. S.”' But 
she did not think that she would ask her to meet 
company again immediately. In a way, she could 
understand the reluctance of “M. K. S.” 

Since the illness of Catherine’s stepmother, she 
had visited home more often, and was desirous of 
seeing her stepmother get entirely well. But it was 
doubtful if she would ever regain her sight, and this 
was very disturbing to one of Mrs. Summer’s active 
mind. For this reason she required entertaining 
and she now looked forward appreciatively to Cathe- 
rine’s coming with some new ideas on some subject 
of interest to her. In this way the breach that had 
threatened to become serious was healed as far as 
Catherine and her mother were concerned. But 
Nella, although she had a very sweet and lovely 
disposition, had not forgotten the fact that the 


The Solution 


75 


house had smelled of smoke for some months after 
one of Catherine’s experiments. Nella’s husiband 
had never been opposed to Catherine’s experiment- 
ing. He abhorred “art,” and for that reason he 
felt inclined to encourage what he chose to call 
“Catherine’s budding inventive genius.” He was 
also probably aware that all the opposition in the 
world could not change the determination of Cathe- 
rine, so he was wise enough not to try. 

Catherine had now taken a small office on Thirty- 
fourth street. She found that without her studio 
this was a necessity. While she expected to con- 
tinue making different types of machines, yet she 
believed the main experimenting was over. She had 
perfected a very small machine which could be at- 
tached to any faucet. This she took with her 
when she went for her weekly visits, for this 
type she used constantly. The forms of machines 
for medical purposes would be sold to doctors only, 
or upon doctor’s prescriptions. Franklin urged 
her to finance the machine. But Catherine was too 
conservative to want to let go of her hard-earned 
product. “Besides,” she said: “I have not yet 
finished my observations. It would be easy for some 
Company without a conscience to advertise it to 
accomplish what it could not do and thus bring con- 
tumely on a great invention.” 

She was conservative enough in claiming credit 


76 


The Solution 


for what it really did do. But she desired to put 
forth no false claims, and thought it safel- to keep 
the machine within her own control. 

With the change in the City Administration 
Catherine had thought it worth while to again try 
to direct interest toward the colloids and to have 
them installed, along with the anti-toxins, in the City 
Laboratory. Her friend, Mr. Hawke, was inde- 
fatigable, but beyond gathering some observations 
these efforts were not fruitful. 

“Well,’^ said Mr. Hawke, after seeing herculean 
efforts put forth accomplished so little, ‘‘perhaps it 
is only natural for those who have worked in vaccines 
and serums all their lives to fight the colloids. Sup- 
pose we transfer our attention from the Laboratory 
to the Commissioner.^” And he gave her a letter 
which she afterward used. Dr. Hopewell was the 
Commissioner’s name, and a very appropriate one 
it was, too. For he was permeated with hope which 
he had the ability to convey to others. Catherine 
was very much encouraged when she left after the 
first interview. In a few weeks, however, she became 
very much disheartened again. She thought it might 
require a continuous series of interviews to cause 
any one to remain in a hopeful condition. If this 
good doctor had not taken up medical science he 
would have made a shining mark in that science 
which insists that “What is, isn’t,” or an excellent 
exponent of the theory of mental suggestion. 


The Solution 


77 


Catherine now took a few of her friends to Dr. 
Howell. Some came from great distances and she 
watched with interest cases of rheumatism and 
tuberculosis. The latter seemed to be cured, even 
when they came from warmer climates. A specific 

case was that of Elizabeth M eighteen, pretty, 

full of life and fun, who was stricken with the “new 
pneumonia” during March. She had been employed 
as a ‘stuffier’ in a doll studio and the woman for 
whom she worked had had a business friendship with 
Catherine. She had taken a personal liking to 
pretty lively little Elizabeth, and she now came with 
tears to implore Catherine’s help. 

Elizabeth had been removed from her home to a 
hospital in a critical condition. Even the driver 
of the ambulance, a young and romantic boy, had 
been moved to pity when he carried her out, so 
lovely and fragile was she with the burning red of 
her round cheeks in contrast to the dead white of 
her hands and forehead. “Roses and lilies, she looks 
like,” he said, and he brought her a bunch of roses 
every other day after that, and made many anxious 
inquiries to find out if she was going to get better 
again. 

Catherine went to the hospital at once and was 
told by the nurse there that the disease had devel- 
oped into galloping or acute consumption and that 
she could not possibly live longer than six weeks. 
Catherine was unsuccessful in her attempt to have 


78 


The Solution 


the colloids administered at the hospital, and Dr. 
Howell suggested that she be taken home again. Con- 
ditions in Elizabeth’s home were about the worst 
that could have been imagined for she lived in a base- 
ment in an east side tenement where the streets were 
congested and the air was laden with foul odors. 
But Catherine and the doctor were tireless in their 
care of her, making a desperate fight to vanquish the 
Grim Reaper. And, after a time they won the vic- 
tory. Elizabeth slowly rallied her strength and was 
able to go back to work again by September 15, 
having gained twenty-one pounds. 

Catherine was now getting the opinions of quite 
a few doctors ; not only upon the machines but also 
upon the colloids generally. She became even more 
interested, as a result ; but she still made little head- 
way. June came, and then July, 1918. The influ- 
enza epidemic was then raging in Europe, and any 
person with the least perception must have seen that 
it would eventually reach America. The vessels were 
going back and forth with greater and greater vol- 
umes of men and merchandise. In times of peace the 
danger might have been checked, but not now, 
thought Catherine. She importuned Mr. Hawke, 
her friend in the City Administration, to use his 
efforts to have sufficient colloids made, as she was 
sure they would be useful when the epidemic broke. 
Now, Mr. Hawke made repeated efforts, this Cathe- 
rine knew ; but they were as impotent as her own. 


The Solution 


79 


It was in July that Catherine had an interview 
with the Deputy Commissioner, Dr. Hopewell being 
out of town. If she could have seen Dr. Hopewell 
she probably would not have been so hopeless, for 
the effect of his words, though only temporary, was 
always encouraging. As it was, she felt discour- 
aged, but still determined. She thought she would 
stop and as a last resort interview Mr. Hawke, who 
was always amiable in spite of the misnomer of his 
name. He had always been indefatigable in Cathe- 
rine’s behalf. Apparently she had the good wishes 
of all the departments except the one with which 
she had mostly to deal. This good will, she thought, 
had been brought about by the tireless efforts of 
Mr. Hawke. Catherine was provoked into saying 
some very disrespectful things about the adminis- 
tration. 

“Do you know what I am going to do.^” asked 
Catherine. 

“No,” said Mr. Hawke, remaining calm, how- 
ever. “What.?’^ 

“I am going to write a book.” As Catherine 
made no pretensions to literary talent she thought 
this would be sufficiently shocking to disturb Mr. 
Hawke. On the contrary it seemed a harmless 
pastime, and Mr. Hawke looked relieved because 
Catherine’s declaration would not cause him to look 
about for a cyclone cellar. 

“Well, what is it to be about.?” he asked. 


80 


The Solution 


“It is going to be about this epidemic that is com- 
ing. You won’t prepare for it. You all sit around 
like a lot of noodles.” 

“‘Noodles,’” protested Hawke, rather feebly. 
“Why noodles are a kind of dough which they put 
in soup.” 

“Exactly. You men are rather like dough, aren’t 
you? And you will go in the soup eventually, all 
right, if you continue to sit arourid and let people 
die. It is going to be the same thing over again 
as it was in the infantile paralysis epidemic — no 
remedy ready. Any one with half an eye can see 
that the influenza will reach here. Why sit supinely 
and wait for it? Why not get ready?” 

“You have certainly done your part,” said Mr. 
Hawke. “But it is too warm a day to be so in 
earnest. Better have a cool drink when you go out.” 
Catherine left the Municipal Building in a state of 
exasperation, feeling that she had failed. For sev- 
eral days she wondered if there was a higher power 
in the government that would help her. She knew 
the policy of those influencing the Medical Corps 
in Washington. They were opposed to colloids, for 
she had tried that out thoroughly. 

Catherine knew perfectly well that to write to the 
President on this matter only meant that it would 
be referred to those to whom she had already writ- 
ten. But she did have the inspiration to write to 
him as Head of the Red Cross and suggest that the 


The Solution 


81 


organization be continued after the war as a means 
of preventing disease. At the end she suggested that 
the colloids could be used to advantage the coming 
winter in the new diseases. This letter was replied 
to by the Surgeon of the Red Cross. But while the 
Red Cross continued to do its good work the col- 
loids were not installed anywhere. Nor was any 
move made that way though the dreaded disease 
drew nearer day by day. 


CHAPTER IV 


One morning Catherine found in her mail what 
looked like a wedding announcement. She opened 
the square flat letter to find that it was from Mills. 
She had learned, long ago, that Mills was not one to 
become interested in what she had been trying to 
accomplish. He had been primarily interested in 
getting married. Perfectly natural, thought Cath- 
erine; but she did not see why a man could not 
marry, and at the same time be interested in hu- 
manity as a whole. Catherine had no doubt but 
that the bride would lead an interesting life; she 
would not be bored with monotony. As he had told 
Catherine he intended to marry sometime she had 
not expected him to take the breaking of their 
friendship too seriously. He had arrived at that 
practical age when he did not allow emotion to over- 
come reason. This suited Catherine, who had no 
desire to be a heart breaker. But she wished he had 
been big enough to conceive an interest in her work. 
She was commencing to realize that the world was 
a pretty selfish one. The race, as a whole, was a 
primitive one, and the instinct to preserve their own 
skins was still dominant. 


82 


The Solution 


83 


Ignorance is often called “darkness.” But it is 
not so easy as that explanation would imply. For 
the darkness of space offers no impediment to the 
penetration of light. But the human mind often 
offers a specific resistance to the entrance of a new 
idea. Especially if it is such a large idea that the 
mental faculties must rearrange their established 
order before room can be found for it. Knowledge 
not possessed by one’s self is all too often spoken 
slightingly of ; and the egoism of the individual re- 
mains impenetrable. 

“I can,” thought Catherine, “now that I have 
almost perfect health and am able to retain it by 
my own device, go back to the studio life and live 
far easier and better without the unpleasant condi- 
tions I am now fighting. If the ofiicials chosen by 
the people are willing that the public should live 
and die in the old way when there is a better one, 
why should I care.?^” 

She could but smile at the vehement opposition of 
health ofiicials to health. She did not often get in 
this mood, but it seemed as though she could feel 
the presage of coming disaster — it had told on her 
nerves. She had done what she could to warn and 
prepare. Now she could do nothing but wait. 

Franklin was in the banking business and he 
persuaded Catherine that she ought to enlist some 
capital and get a stock of machines made if she 
was so sure that the epidemic was coming. So 


84 


The Solution 


Catherine went to a brokerage house on lower Broad- 
way. They were friends of Franklin rather than 
herself. One of their clients took quite an interest. 
He asked for a machine and had the water exam- 
ined. While the examination proved satisfactory, 
the offer he made Catherine was far from being sat- 
isfactory to her. She then told the man, who 
seemed kindly, that the epidemic was imminent, and 
she wanted to get a sufficient number of machines 
made to do some good at such a time. Either be- 
cause his interest was not sufficiently aroused or 
because he was too much taken up with money-mak- 
ing, he did not let her have the amount she needed. 
Catherine left him, feeling that the Great Financial 
Center was a poor place to come to get money for a 
vital cause. 

As she passed the firm where Mr. Burrell was 
once a partner she saw that they were still in busi- 
ness, only minus his name. As she knew one of the 
partners, she thought she would call in, tell him what 
she was doing, and ask for a card to the gallery of 
the Exchange. Somehow, she wanted to look at the 
excited groups. She went into the same little office 
that she knew so well. One of the firm happened to 
be in. But it had been such a great length of time, 
and Catherine had so changed in appearance, that 
he did not at first recognize her. She had, there- 
fore, to explain that she used to come there some 
years ago when Mr. Burrell was one of the firm. 


The Solution 


85 


“Oh, yes! Yes, indeed, I remember! But what 
have you been doing that you’ve managed to grow 
old backwards? You are so changed. I certainly 
would like to know your secret.” 

This left a good opening for Catherine, and she 
gave a short sketch of her work. 

“This sounds interesting, very interesting. It is 
possible that when I have finished marketing a cer- 
tain issue I might take it up. It is a shame you did 
not have some one like Mr. Burrell to back you. 
He had a large acquaintance on the other side, and 
could have handled your product successfully, I’m 
sure.” 

Catherine abruptly changed the subject. “I 
came to ask, Mr. Baxter, if you would give me a 
card. I just took a fancy to go up into the gallery 
of the Exchange.” 

“Most certainly,” and he took a firm card from 
the desk and wrote a message on it. “Just present 
this at the door, you know.” 

“I thank you very much. I used to go occasion- 
ally, but it was a very long time ago.” She 
shook hands with Mr. Baxter, who said: “Come in 
at some future time. I rather think you have a 
good thing.” 

Catherine went around to the ornate but really 
beautiful building of the “Exchange,” and up into 
the gallery. It happened to be a dull month, but 
there seemed to be excitement about one or two 


86 


The Solution 


posts ; there the storm, as it were, seemed to center. 
The appearance of so many active arms and legs, 
with now and then a head visible, amused Catherine 
for a moment, as of yore. Then the enormous 
amounts of money they were bidding occuirred to her 
and she thought how much good she could do with 
just a very little of it. Again she heard what seemed 
to be the rumbling preceding the storm, and it was 
coming nearer, and becoming louder. Then these 
men would give their very souls to save their lives, 
and all their money would not help them — then. 
Their money would not help them, and though she 
could help, the very little she asked had been denied. 
“The Great Financial Center,” she thought, bitterly. 
There may have been much nobility in their charac- 
ters, much that was fine and big and worthy of sur- 
vival. But they were playing the Game — the Money 
Game, and many had failed to find their greatest and 
best selves, their souls within their souls. They had 
not made their own acquaintance, so absorbing was 
the Game. As the coming epidemic was uppermost 
in her mind she could not help wondering how many 
had played the Game so squarely that they could 
look Death in the face with a smile. She wondered 
if they understood what she could do toward the 
savings of lives if there would be many to help. 
But they did not want to understand. She might 
go back and ask Mr. Baxter. Only he had said he 


The Solution 


87 


was too busy just then with another issue. So 
she gave up her quest in the Great Financial 
Center. 

Then she went directly to her manufacturer and 
explained the situation. He was far from being a 
rich man. But Catherine told him of the coming 
epidemic and that she believed she had accomplished 
some good, though she could not gather much data, 
in the paralysis epidemic just passed. They had 
been mostly the children of the very poor whom she 
had helped, although a couple of the well-to-do fam- 
ilies had thanked her for the prompt and rather 
miraculous recovery of their children. Moreover, 
people who drank the water were not subject to 
grippe. “The influenza is, of course, more viru- 
lent,” Catherine explained. 

“How many do you want to loan out he asked. 

“I would like to loan out a hundred, anyway.” 

“Well, then. I’ll go you twenty-five, and you can 
pay me when you are able. I suppose that I get one 
for my family.?” 

“You surely do,” said Catherine. 

“Maybe you will find some other poor man who 
will help you out,” said the old fellow. “I don’t 
mind tellin’ you that I looked you up and it said 
you came from a rich family.” 

This appeared to Catherine as though the old 
fellow thought her family would pay if she did not. 


88 


The Solution 


“Oh, you must not do this with the idea that anyone 
but me will pay,” she protested. 

“No, I don’t expect pay from any one else. I jes’ 
meant to say that some poor folks are more charit- 
able than rich ones.” 

“Rich people have a gTeat many calls made upon 
them, too. Maybe they become calloused.” 

“Maybe they do,” said the old man, dubiously. 

A few days after her experience in Wall Street 
she received a letter from the man who had refused 
her money. He sent a check sufficient to build 
thirty machines and said that she need not trouble 
to return it. This cheered Catherine considerably. 
The epidemic, however, came on apace, and before 
Catherine could get out her new machines she was 
kept more or less busy with those she had on hand. 
She followed the same plan as she done done pre- 
viously. It brought her no material return and but 
very little data. She could not heap coals of fire on 
Dr. Hopewell’s head by offering her blood now, as 
blood would not be required. Catherine thought that 
this particular water was, and she administered 
it faithfully. She had even let her personal machine 
go and was now without one of her own for more 
than a week. 

Late one afternoon she felt feverish and dizzy. 
She had not told her doctor when she had seen him. 
For she knew that he would probably put her to bed. 
She decided that she was not so very sick, or he 


The Solution 


89 


would have noticed it. She went home and tele- 
phoned a friend to bring her machine around. This 
friend was a Mrs. Thompson, who was secretary for 
a very prominent surgeon and she had been benefited 
by the colloidal water. She was shocked to find 
Catherine without her little machine at such a time. 
She was so thoroughly shocked that Catherine de- 
cided it might be unwise to ask for the loan of hers 
at such a time. Finally she solved the problem by 
having a pailful of water treated, and placed by the 
bed with a cup. 

“This gives me an idea,” she said. “I can just 
take a machine around and treat a pailful at a time 
at a number of houses each day. This will help to 
overcome the shortage of machines.” 

“Yes,” said Mrs. Thompson, “you might do that, 
but I should not advise your starting in to-morrow. 
I should think that after what you have done for 
others you would be entitled to having a physician 
yourself, even if you are busy.” 

“I’ll drink this pail of water to-night and then go 
and see a doctor to-morrow. But they are so over- 
worked and so tired out that I haven’t the heart to 
ask one to come here. There is much said about 
the heroes of war and it is right that there should 
be; but there is not much said about the heroes and 
heroines of peace. These are the doctors and nurses 
who are battling now. They should have monu- 
ments raised for them and poems written to them. 


90 


The Solution 


too. But this will probably never be done. People 
just take it as a matter of course.” 

“Yes, that is true. Everybody is so busy with 
their own affairs that they do not think of heroes 
unless they are spectacular.” 

“Are you sure that you will be comfortable?” 
asked Mrs. Thompson, as she rose to go, “Have 
you any one you can call on in the night ?” 

“Yes, my landlady sleeps next door and all I have 
to do is to tap on the wall.” 

“I’ll ring up in the morning and find out how you 
are, anyway. Every one has to take care of him- 
self, at a time like this ; and you should, particularly. 
Try to get some rest. Good night,” said Mrs. 
Thompson. 

Catherine could not rest, but she broke up her 
fever. Still she did not feel well, by any means, so 
she went to see Dr. Howell. As she had no fever 
whatever she did not think her illness likely to be- 
come serious. He gave her a treament of colloids. 
She was curious about the possible effect of the col- 
loidal hypodermic. 

The following day she felt still better. But she 
thought it would be a good idea to go to places 
where her doctor would send her, and take a machine. 
She could get them to drinking water until he could 
get to them. He was now so well acquainted with 
the water that she knew she could aid him materially. 


The Solution 91 

So she called at his office. When she entered she 
was greatly shocked at his appearance. 

“I am glad you came, for I want the machines 
looked after, he said. 

“But, doctor,” she protested, “nothing can save 
you if you do not rest. I will attend to them im- 
mediately. But you have changed — terribly. You 
should have a doctor yourself, now.” 

“Oh, it’s nothing, I guess. I’m just tired.” 

“I came to see if I could help you. I know that 
from your very large practise that you cannot get 
to all your patients as soon as you would like. Can 
I go and get them started by giving the water until 
you can get there?” 

“I should want to see them first,” he said, “but 
of course there were those I should have seen to-day 
again, but couldn’t. Well, yes, I think you could 
help. But I will have to speak to them first so that 
they will understand that I have sent you. I am so 
very busy, though, that I can’t give you very accu- 
rate data.” 

“That will not matter, so long as I can help you.” 

“You are not afraid, are you.^” 

“No, not at all. I have been going around in it 
all of the time. I let my machine go and was with- 
out one for a week. I thought I had contracted a 
case of it, but Dr. Howell thought not.” 

“Forsaking your old doctor, eh?” 


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The Solution 


“No, only I wanted to try the colloids hypoder- 
mically.” 

“So you made the excuse that you were sick.'^ 
Well, the change in yourself is wonderful since you 
have used the water. I don’t believe that you would 
have gone through this epidemic if there had not 
been a change in your condition from what it was 
some years ago.” 

“I will have to be going, doctor. I hope that I 
shall be able to help you. Here are my two ’phone 
numbers.” 

“Call me up at one to-morrow and I will give you 
a few names. My head is in such a condition that 
anything extra to remember now is a burden. I’m 
going to get the machines to the new pavilion of the 
Hospital; then I shall give you some observations 
worth while.” 

“I have kept you too long. Get a rest, for pity’s 
sake. I’ll fix the machines immediately but nothing 
will save you if you don’t rest,” said Catherine, look- 
ing at him anxiously. 

“Yes, yes. I’ll try, thank you. Good-by.” 

Catherine had her misgivings. She felt blue, and 
guessed everybody else was. At one, the following 
day, she called the doctor and he gave her a list of 
names and addresses. The plan was for her to take 
a machine which was not too heavy and treat enough 
water so that the family could drink plentifully. 
The places were reasonably near together and she 


The Solution 


93 


could make several calls in the afternoon. The ar- 
rangement seemed to work very well, but it was not 
destined to last. 

A few days later when she phoned to say that she 
could attend to some more cases she received the 
shocking news that the doctor had died that morning 
while in his automobile making his seventeenth call 
of the morning, simply worn out. Catherine real- 
ized that she had lost one of her best friends in the 
medical profession. Many a poor family had lost 
a real friend, too, as well as a good doctor. 

That night Catherine sat in deep thought, won- 
dering how it was that so good and useful a man 
should have been taken from his great work while the 
selfish and mercenary were only too often left. She 
had not taken many messages from “M. K. S.” for 
the reason that she had felt so exhausted from her 
labors that she thought she had best conserve her 
strength. Now, however, she felt a strong call. So 
in the dim light she took her pencil and arranged her 
paper. The pencil wrote almost immediately : 

“M. K. S. thinks that if the world does not grow 
better that mortals must cease to exist.” 

“This,” thought Catherine, “is but the reflection 
of my own mind. It is simply my subconscious self 
writing these messages.” How would the effect be, 
she wondered, if she should force herself to believe 
that she was very happy and contented and con- 
fident She had a strong will, and succeeded fairly 


94 


The Solution 


well in disciplining her mental state. Then she 
again took up the pencil. It wrote: 

“M. K. S. is not going to say just what the pecu- 
liar effect of your delusion is upon her writing but 
she cannot bring the same forces to bear as when 
you are more natural.” 

Catherine felt rebuked. She then allowed her 
hand to become passive but asked no mental ques- 
tion. After a few minutes the following message 
came: 

“M. K. S. thinks that the influence of your good 
doctor will be continued on earth. He will be both 
forceful and useful. Do not mourn him as lost. He 
will join the ever increasing phalanx here that is 
working for ‘Peace on Earth, Good Will towards 
Men.’ ” This gave Catherine a measure of the en- 
couragement she so sorely needed. 

Then the pencil went on: “M. K. S. thinks that 
some scientists take an illogical position. They in- 
sist upon the indestructibility of matter ; but they 
also insist on the destructibility of the spirit. The 
spirit cannot be destroyed. It is true that those 
whose minds are taken up entirely with the material 
things have very little when they come over and it 
takes them ages and ages to develop. But, however 
small they may be when they are freed from the 
physical body, they cannot be entirely destroyed.” 

Catherine had seen an inordinate amount of selflsh- 
ness and greed. In despondent moments she had 


The Solution 


95 


sometimes wondered why God did not launch a new 
flood and make a fresh start. But on reflection she 
concluded that this would not be practicable now- 
adays ; for the selfish would all scramble and get on 
the availing boats, and the weak and unaggressive 
ones would be left behind as happens to-day in the 
subway rushes. The mean and selfish ones would 
be the survivors, and the world would become worse 
than ever. 

She now wrote out this question: “What becomes 
of those who are cruel and selfish, who destroy not 
only bodies, but even try to destroy the souls of 
other mortals 

“M. K. S. does not feel that she should speak on 
this subject. The Bible is given as a guide for man- 
kind. When properly interpreted the answer is 
there. It was written at a time when people were 
simple and primitive; the metaphors were adapted 
to the minds of the people at that time. The ad- 
vanced minds will be able to interpret properly. The 
danger results because of the narrowness of mind of 
the literal interpreter.” 

Catherine sat for several minutes waiting, but 
nothing more came. Finally the pencil wrote very 
slowly: “You are weary. It is best that you rest 
now. Good night.” 

She was weary indeed, and, yes, discouraged, too. 
Why, when she could have done so much, was she 
permitted to do so little.? Whose prejudice, indif- 


96 


The Solution 


ference or selfishness was preventing her from doing 
what she could? She continued her work with the 
patients of her good doctor who had passed out. 
She also accompanied Dr. Howell on some cases. 
She was anxious to ascertain the effect of colloids 
on this new disease. She still adhered with consid- 
erable tenacity to the oxidizing of blood through the 
drinking of colloidal water. But the water had im- 
mediate effects which she thought could not come 
from oxidization alone, and this was the opiniop of 
the doctors who gave her observations. When 
Catherine was not too exhausted she looked over the 
papers at night to see, as she said, who was living, 
and who was not. 

She had noted the death of some of her friends, 
and occasionally had read the obituary of some one 
who had not been a friend. Her eyes fell with 
alarmed interest one night upon the name of the man 
who had refused her money to build a hundred ma- 
chines and had afterward sent her a check to make 
thirty. She wondered if it could be this same man ; 
but she did not wonder long. For, looking through 
the paper she found a long story of his demise with 
an estimate of the millions he had left. The amount 
any one “left” she thought, appealed more strongly 
to many people than any other achievement ; that is, 
if one might judge by the space allotted in the news- 
papers. As this man left a great many millions the 
space was generous. He had died of the influenza. 


The Solution 


97 


and Catherine knew he probably could have been 
saved. Here was a man who would have given mil- 
lions to have saved his life. He had come into direct 
contact with the agency that might have saved 
him. But in his all-engrossing battle for money 
it is doubtful if he remembered that the colloids 
were a new agency that might possibly be effec- 
tive. 

The pity of it, thought Catherine. Here was a 
man altruistically inclined, but the Money Game 
had gotten hold of him and had almost eradicated his 
natural self. She thought this to be the case with 
many millionaires, and she thought of organizing a 
society for their reclamation, and smiled at the irony 
of it. Then she felt sorry to think that she could 
not have gotten a machine for him if he had wanted 
one. Tor, much to her disappointment, the new ones 
were not ready as yet. 

“If he had had one, he would have thought of me, 
and of what I said about different cases. But I 
don’t think he would have remembered it without 
having had the reminder,” thought Catherine. 

It had occurred to her then that the fact of the 
colloids being proved effective should be written for 
the medical paper. Dr. Howell was so driven that 
it was doubtful if he would ever find time to write 
the article. But he probably could make himself 
understood. She found that getting the article, 
however, was a tedious matter. And she discovered 


98 


The Solution 


that if she waited for it to be as complete as the 
doctor would wish that it would never get into the 
paper in time to do any good. He was averaging 
only two and a half hours sleep now. When could 
he write How could he wriFe? But Catherine was 
not one to be daunted. He would probably be able 
to make himself understood. So she literally 
camped on his doorstep. And after several days she 
succeeded in getting an incomplete article. The 
editor of the Medical Record was very considerate 
in placing the article immediately in print. 

While Catherine was occupied in this way she did 
not get around as much as formerly. Her manu- 
facturer had now finished her machines and she had 
placed them where doctors thought the influenza had 
left a trace of tuberculosis or kidney trouble. It 
was now evident that the wave of the epidemic had 
passed the expected “peak,” and the whole city 
breathed easier. 

Catherine had written home every few days but 
she had deemed it inadvisable to travel any more 
than was necessary. Her stepmother now looked 
forward to her visits. The Aquator was established 
as a domestic feature. As far as her family was 
concerned Catherine had no more opposition. The 
years of effort she had spent in trying to break into 
the Health Departments of either City, State or 
Government had proved fruitless, Catherine decided. 
When the epidemic subsided she again attempted to 


The Solution 


99 


have demonstrations made on tuberculosis or other 
diseases. She also importuned the government to 
give the boys who had been wounded in the war, a 
chance. 

But there were too many adverse influences in the 
Government to permit even a trial, which was all that 
Catherine asked. She did not blame the heads of 
the Government or even the heads of City or State 
departments. She blamed those influences which did 
not come out in the open and fight for the welfare 
of humanity because their purposes would not bear 
inspection. Catherine wondered how many more 
years the struggle would continue. Then she laughed 
somewhat bitterly to herself and thought: “Barring 
accidents, I shall live longer than my opponents for 
I take my own medicine. When they all die off I 
shall try the next generation.” 

One of the patients whom Dr. X wished her to 
deliver a machine to was down in the old portion of 
the city where the studio was. Catherine was walk- 
ing along the Avenue and carrying the bag made 
especially to accommodate her little machine. Sud- 
denly, around the comer of Nineteenth Street came 
Mills, breezing along in his head-on fashion. Both 
stopped abmptly. 

“Great Scott !” he exclaimed. “Where in the 
world are you going.^^ Must be in some hurry!” 

Thus he ignored the fact that he was the one who 
was doing most of the hurrying. He grabbed 


100 


The Solution 


Catherine’s bag, and looked in, a very characteristic 
thing for Mills to do. 

‘‘Suppose you’re getting in good work now?” he 
asked in his abrupt fashion. 

“Yes, I have certainly managed to keep busy. 
But what has happened to you? You look as though 
you had lost two pounds.” 

“I did! Had the ‘flu.’ Two pounds isn’t much, 
though.” 

“It’s enough when one hasn’t more to lose, isn’t 
it ?” 

“Gee, you do rub it in! Didn’t yon have the 
‘flu’.?” 

“No,” answered Catherine, with disdain, “I 
didn’t.” 

“Guess the water must be some good, then. You 
always did have everything of that kind.” 

“/ think it is some good!” exclaimed Catherine, 
trenchantly. She started off down the Avenue. 

“Wait awhile. Don’t mind if I walk as far as 
Fourteenth Street, do you?” 

“No, very glad to have you.” 

“What are you doing now, anyhow?” asked Mills. 
“Don’t ever see you any more.” 

“Doing good, I hope,” replied Catherine. 

“Working for the Almighty, eh?” 

“You may call it that if you choose,” said Cath- 
erine, laughing. “Who are you working for?” 

“For the Devil,” answered Mills. 


The Solution 


101 


“I am sorry if that is the case. You are really 
capable of better things.’^ She was a little puzzled, 
for she thought he might have thus alluded to a do- 
mestic misunderstanding. She wondered if he re- 
ferred to his better and bigger half. She was relieved 
when he answered: 

“Oh, darn it, you know what I mean — it’s work, 
all work, and nothing but work, all the darn time! 
No chance for ball games or sailing any more.” 

“Work seems to be a very good thing for you,” 
replied Catherine, “it keeps your excess flesh down.” 

Mills, being little more than a shadow, resented 
this. 

“You’re just as sarcastic as you always were,” 
he said, with a flush. 

“I’m sorry, then. I didn’t mean to offend you,” 
said Catherine. 

“No? All right, then — no harm done. Here is 
where I catch my car,” and he dashed after a car 
which was already a quarter way down the block. 

Catherine watched him until after he had boarded 
the car. 

“It is too bad he could not have had a mind to 
understand what I am trying to do. But in that 
case he might not have married,” she thought, but 
he was by nature domestically inclined. She hoped 
he had found happiness. 


CHAPTER V 


A great joy, effecting many nations, came in 
November, 1918. It would have been a hard heart 
indeed that could not have participated in the 
world-wide rejoicing. Yet innuendo whispered that 
there were some who did not rejoice. Nevertheless, 
the glad tidings of peace flooded the Christian world, 
and Catherine felt as though a great weight had 
been lifted. She wished that her good doctor could 
have lived to see this day. He had remarked so 
many times: “Wait till the war is over. We shall 
be able to get things done then, and I predict that 
you will make great progress. People really haven’t 
time to think now.” 

Catherine remembered his words and resolved to 
see Dr. Hopewell again. This she did; and while 
the doctor was sympathetic as usual, his efforts 
were not productive of results. Catherine had im- 
mediately, upon the change of Administration, of- 
fered her method of making colloidal solutions to 
the City. It seemed desirable that colloids be placed 
in the Board of Health Laboratory along with the 
antitoxins. In the early stages of a disease where 
102 


The Solution 103 

a diagnosis was often impossible, the colloids could 
be used as they applied to many diseases. 

Finally, after repeated visits, one of the doctors 
remarked to her, “Miss Summers, you seem to be a 
very good business woman. For if we install these 
colloids, you know that it will help you. You wiU 
be more than repaid by the impetus given your 
products.’^ 

Catherine looked at the doctor as if she con- 
sidered such persons hopeless. He probably had 
never done an unselfish act in his life. For that rea- 
son he was entirely incapable of imagining any one 
else could. 

“So you think it better to let people perish than 
to give them what might benefit them, simply be- 
cause it might possibly help an American woman 
who has worked for years in order not only to help 
herself, but to help others? Yes, it would seem that 
being an American in America is a handicap. What 
I would impress upon you, however, is this : that the 
products I have offered the City I am not selling, 
and that I have had it in my mind from the very 
beginning to give this part of my process to the 
City Laboratories.” 

Further than this the colloids are coming and 
their advent means revolution in the scientific, medi- 
cal, industrial and financial world. The reversal 


104 


The Solution 


of a certain supposed irreversible colloid will turn 
the financial world upside down. 

At the mention of financial world which Catherine 
had maliciously thrown in made the doctor very 
much interested, not to say obsequious. 

“Indeed, Miss Summers, I did not intend to cast 
any aspersions upon your intentions at all. But 
I greatly admire you for being such a good business 
woman. I assure you that I have not had the 
slightest intention of offending you.” 

“I accept your apology. I really do not sup- 
pose you realized that being ‘a good business woman’ 
could be offensive under any circumstances.” 

Slurs such as these made Catherine even more 
despondent than the out-and-out falsehoods with 
which she had had to contend at first. For these 
she could disprove; but “motives” were something 
which any unprincipled person could lay at her door. 
And only those who knew her best understood her 
real motives. 

Catherine realized that though there might be 
really sincere people at the head of any administra- 
tion, there was a higher power that sought to rule 
through subordinates. She decided to abandon her 
efforts to interest the City, State or Federal Gov- 
ernments and make another attempt in her own 
way. This, then, was to be “The Solution.” 

She knew that many thousands of men would 
return from the war with wounds and sores that 


The Solution 


105 


the old methods could not heal; for they could not 
purify the fountain of life, — the blood, — so effectu- 
ally. Yes, she was going to fight on for the boys 
who had already given their best on the fields of 
battle. They were entitled to the best; and the 
nation as a whole, desired to give them the best. 

She now went to Dr. Howell and obtained his 
agreement to give demonstrations on diseases for 
which there was at present no specific. She had 
then to hunt for men to put up the necessary funds 
and these were preferably from amongst the doctor’s 
clientele, and those who had reason for believing 
in the doctor’s methods. They were agreed that the 
sum was a large one, but they decided to contribute 
if the doctor would sign an agreement also. Then 
the trouble began, and it dragged over several 
months. Catherine found that trying to manage 
several persons, each of whom was accustomed to 
managing others, was an onerous undertaking. The 
doctor thought that possibly Mrs. Miles would do 
better in managing the clients and that Catherine 
had enough to do to collect the patients, and make 
other arrangements. So Catherine resigned that 
part to Mrs. Miles, a patient of the doctor’s who 
was deeply indebted to him. This relieved Catherine. 
For, until she had a more definite statement from 
Mrs. Miles she refused to go ahead collecting the 
patients. The accepted patients had to have a 
diagnosis and a prognosis from a reliable doctor. 


106 


The Solution 


The prognosis to be “probably incurable, or incur- 
able in this climate,” also the character and habits 
of the patients had to be looked into. 

Although Catherine was relieved, her burden was 
not notably lessened. Conferences followed, last- 
ing till all hours of the night, at least a couple of 
times each week. She had most of her time, how- 
ever, free for her usual routine of experimenting, 
reading, tabulating or seeing physicians. Some- 
times she did some art work. She knew that her 
thoroughly trained eye had been very useful to her 
in making observations, and noting color. She did 
not wish to get out of practise. 

She was sitting at her desk in her little office one 
dark day when the lights were on. The light above 
her desk being too intense, she turned that off. 
Some one came in without an announcement and his 
head threw a shadow directly on her desk. It looked 
strangely familiar; she glanced up instantly, and 
saw Mr. Spots standing before her. His skin had 
grown ruddy from outdoor life and his clothes, no 
longer bizarre, were those of a well-groomed man. 

“Well, well, if here isn’t the ‘Water Witch’!” he 
exclaimed. “I didn’t believe that I should find you. 
You know that you didn’t answer my last two let- 
ters .f”’ 

“But I’m very glad to see you, just the same! 
And you bring all the freshness and tang of a west- 
ern breeze along with you.” 


Th^ Solution 


107 


“Which sounds very nice, coming from you,’^ said 
Mr. Spots. “You always claimed that you liked the 
West, but you never came out. Not for lack of 
invitations, though. That wasn’t the real reason.” 

“No, I have been too busy. Do you want to look 
at some of the data.^” Catherine handed him a 
sheaf of letters. He read them with keen interest 
and then exclaimed, “By Gkorge, you’re a regular 
life-saver! Who would] have dreamed you could 
ever have done anything like this with anything so 
common as water I Got any here.'”’ 

“Yes, go over and help yourself I” and Catherine 
pointed to the cooler. 

“I hardly ever think of taking a drink of water,” 
he said. 

“Gracious, that is a terrible admission. You 
must reform. I do remember now that you some- 
times liked something more effective than water, 
occasionally. Do you know what is the very best 
brand of gin 

“Why, I used to think I was something of a con- 
noisseur in drinks, but I didn’t know that you had 
tendencies in that direction,” he said, giving her a 
surprised look. 

“The best brand of gin is Oxy-Gin,” said Cath- 
erine, laughing, “and there is plenty of it in that 
water. It goes far ahead of any other gin in the 
long run for it gives you good red blood.” 

Mr. Spots laughed. “I think you would make 


108 


The Solution 


a very good temperance advocate, but I’m not ready 
to reform yet. Do you drink this water yourself?” 

“Yes, I drink it all the time to keep in good health, 
much the same as we eat or breathe. The drink 
habit is a good one if it is water that you drink.” 

Mr. Spots slowly drank a second glassful, look- 
ing critical meanwhile. “It tastes like any ordinary 
water, only a little softer,” he said. 

“It tastes softer because it is colloidal in nature,” 
explained Catherine. 

“I suppose that you can’t hurt yourself by drink- 
ing it,” said Mr. Spots. 

“No, there is no danger of that. I told one man 
that it couldn’t hurt him — a man who couldn’t speak 
English. He, together with a number of other men, 
was deluded by a fake doctor and fiUed up with mer- 
cury. I handed the fake doctor over to the A. M. A. 
and proceeded to dose the patients with water. They 
were a sorry lot, but it was the only thing I could do. 
Not one of them would go near a doctor after their 
experience. But, as I said, I told one that the 
water would not hurt him. In his enthusiasm he 
drank sixty-five glasses in one day.” 

“Great Scott ! Didn’t the fellow burst ?” 

“No, not quite,” laughed Catherine. “You see, 
he believed in expansion. These men all came out all 
right, too. After a while I persuaded them to go to 
good doctors.” 

“By George, but you are a good Samaritan ! To 


The Solution 


109 


think of doing anything great with water except to 
bathe with, or take a drink on a hot day! You 
always used to say that you would do great things 
with water. I believed it, too, when I was with you, 
for you have a convincing way. But, after I got 
away , and thought it over. I’ll have to admit that 
I had my doubts about your theories. And your 
letters have been so meagre in information when you 
did write, which wasn’t often.” 

Mr. Spots picked up another observation at this 
juncture, and looked it over. 

“Well, well,” he exclaimed, “you are a ‘Water 
Witch’ for certain. You know I used to think of 
you that way when you had all of those boats and 
lived on the water. You loved it, I could see. But 
I never dreamed of your taking any old water and 
converting it into a beneficial one. I knew you had 
an idea of oxygenating the blood in some different 
way, but I didn’t think you would ever make it 
practicable.” 

“As far as the efficacy of the machine goes, the 
blood tests show that it purifies the blood. But the 
doctors are by no means agreed that it is the oxygen, 
or the action of the colloidal solution which is also 
formed in the machine. But so long as the end 
justifies the means, I don’t think it matters in the 
least.” 

“Why do you call it a ‘machine’.'^ Haven’t you 
named it yet.?” 


110 


The Solution 


“Yes, I call it the ‘Aquator,’ but they say it’s 
easier to say ‘machine.’ ” 

“ ‘Aquator?’ Well, that isn’t bad.” 

“But tell me,” asked Catherine, “what have you 
been doing? How is your mother ?” ■ 

“Mother is well, thank you, and I’m glad to say, 
happy. I just chased over to see a man from the 
West who happened to be here. I expect to go right 
back. I’ll never live in the East again. And, by 
the way, if I’m successful in this venture I want to 
pay back the money I made you lose with old 
Roace.” 

“How is the old fellow?” 

“Oh, I thought I wrote you that he is dead. Could 
not stand the confinement in the Asylum. He con- 
tinued crazy upon one or two subjects until he died, 
and I believe he really thought he had something on 
the treatment of water. Rosen was the real rascal I 
believe. We never heard of him of course. Roace’s 
old wife was a brick, she stuck to him to the last 
and now I have placed her in an “Old Ladies Home 
where I guess she is fairly happy.” 

“Considering what the old man did I think you 
have been very kind,” said Catherine. 

“Oh, I don’t know about that. It was information 
I was really after you know. I thought the old man 
might divulge something if he was away f rom Rosins 
influence that might be valuable but if he ever had 
anything he didn’t tell. Then the old lady was a 


Th€ Solution 111 

pitiful object, too. I did not enjoy seeing her 
suffer. 

“That was characteristic of you. Mills always 
said it was because you didn’t want to see the crimi- 
nals suffer that you were so successful in criminal 
law.” 

“What has become of our friend, Mills, though.? 
I don’t see him decorating the landscape around 
here,” said Mr. Spots. 

“He is married out of this troublesome scientific 
atmosphere,” said Catherine. 

“Well, I’m sure his wife won’t die of ennui,” said 
Mr. Spots. In making his hasty survey of the room 
for Mills his glance was caught by a formidable 
array of the little machines of many sizeiS and 
shapes. “What is this, anyway, an exhibit.?” he 
asked. 

“Yes, that is, from the youngest to the oldest. 
Only the youngest are the biggest. That tiny one 
is the first one I made, the eldest of the family. 
“Looks rather like the youngest, in comparison. 
Do you change the insides, too.?” 

“Yes, most of the changing is done on the in- 
side, of course. That is where the hard labor has 
come in,” said Catherine. 

“Well, what is it, anyway? Can you explain it 
so that a stupid fellow like myself will be able to un- 
derstand? Just what does it do to the water?” 

“The simple definition would be to say that the 


112 


The Solution 


water was positively charged. That the negative 
had been removed, and that the tiny particles which 
are evolved by this process are left without the neg- 
ative in a state of perpetual motion which is called 
the Brownian movement. It is literally a living 
water having the electric charge which the body has 
when in good health.” 

“Yes, I think I can understand it now,” said Mr. 
Spots. “Just to think that you accomplished this 
without going through a scientific school, too. 
Some persons are born with brains, and some have 
erudition thrust upon them by some doting parent, 
a sort of ready-to-wear variety supplied by uni- 
versities and guaranteed to conform. Personally, 
I prefer the ‘born-with-brains’ kind. They are cer- 
tain to have a more original pattern. Cultivation 
may add to their brilliancy but they can’t become 
atrophied like the ‘ready-to-wear’ product. Gad, 
I’ve forgotten about all I ever learned in College, 
myself !” 

“But, as you happen to belong to the born-with- 
brains’ variety, I don’t think you will need to re- 
member all the things you learned in college,” said 
Catherine, laughing. 

“Now, don’t jolly me along. I happened to be 
referring to you, in particular. You know that 
I was.” 

“You’ve weighed me down with such a quantity 
of brains,” said Catherine, “that I should think 


The Solution 113 

you’d be afraid of me now. I’ve always heard that 
men were afraid of women with brains.” 

‘‘Oh, not at all, providing they have some them- 
selves.” Thus Mr. Spots unwittingly paid himself 
a compliment; and added to it when he asked, “You 
don’t suppose I’m afraid of you, do you?” 

“Why, this is a regular Mutual Admiration So- 
ciety,” said Catherine. 

“By George, I’m glad to hear that! You know 
you always were inclined to treat things lightly. 
I believe you are a little more serious, now; I want 
to be taken seriously.” He paused, then continued 
abruptly: “I do want to straighten out that Roace 
affair with you, if I am successful in my deal down 
town. It was a long time ago, but I don’t 
intend to forget it. Money is the root of all misery. 
You’re miserable if you do have it, and still more 
miserable if you don’t. In all my ups and 
downs, though, I’ve noticed that poverty cements 
true friendship. But it’s fatal to the spurious 
kind.” 

“I’ve had some opportunity to observe that,” 
said Catherine. “At the first ominous whispering of 
adversity, a great many of my so-called ‘friends’ 
disappeared. My first real blow came when the big 
houseboat burned. After that the bludgeoning came 
thick and fast, and many more of my ‘friends’ van- 
ished from the horizon. I have gained this advan- 
tage now, — that I’ve learned to know those who are 


114 


The Solution 


loyal to me and those who are not. And this knowl- 
edge is worth any price.” 

“Yes, that’s true. Prosperity lays everything at 
one’s door in the shape of flattery and friendship. 
But the wind of adversity sweeps the chaff away, and 
leaves only the wheat. By George, that’s a corking 
simile, though! Did you make it, or did I?” 

“You may claim the honor,” laughed Catherine. 

“I really think that before long you will again 
know prosperity. I don’t see how you can help but 
get your just deserts.” 

“I know how I can lose out, though,” she told 
him. 

“You mean by letting some one steal your ideas 
There are too many people of good standing who 
know now that you created this thing. You know 
the world better than you did a few years ago. But 
old man Roace ‘did’ lots of shrewder people than us. 
When he commenced to get a bit ‘dippy’ he even 
did Rosen, who was practised in doing everybody 
else, I understand. 

“I don’t see how you can escape prosperity, with 
your good level head,” he continued. “And with it 
all again will come the wheat and the chaff. Don’t 
let your experiences make you pessimistic. You’ll 
always locate a few good kernels in the chaff. It 
never bothers me, any more, I have gotten on to the 
knack of sifting them. By George, it would take a 
sharp one to get ahead of me now.” 


The Solution 


115 


“But it cost you a lot to acquire that knowledge, 
didn’t it?” queried Catherine. 

“You bet!” exclaimed Mr. Spots, and he looked 
at his watch. “By George, I’m afraid I shall be 
late. If I am successful in my mission I will tele- 
phone you, for I want to catch the five o’clock train 
right back. But if I fail I want to come back here, 
and have some more talk, around five. But, before I 
attended to business, I thought I would try to get 
a glimpse of you first.” 

“I’ll be glad to see you any time. But I’ll say 
good-by, in case you don’t get back.” She held out 
her hand, which was clasped with some fervor as well 
as haste. “And I wish you the best of luck.” 

Mr. Spots called up later and told her that he 
had been successful in his mission. He was sure 
he would be able to straighten out the matter of the 
Roace money with her. Then, with a parting en- 
treaty to answer his letters, he told her good- 

by- 

There had been times when Catherine had needed 
the Roace money far more than at present — times 
when she had had to wait for weeks and months 
to obtain something with which to experiment. She 
reflected that Mr. Spots did not know this. He 
would have been the first to share whatever he pos- 
sessed. But, before he had gone West he had put 
her in a position where she considered her good 
sense precluded her asking anything of him in the 


116 


The Solution 


way of assistance, or even of her telling him the 
exact conditions. 

Ever since her cousin Franklin had failed to pass 
an examination for the Army and was “condemned” 
to remain at home, as he called it, he seemed to show 
signs of a nervous strain. So, one evening when he 
said that he had decided to go back to Summers- 
town, Catherine was not surprised. She had sensed 
it coming, and felt sorry to lose his companionship. 
He had been a good chum; and she knew he was 
bitterly disappointed in having to give up his busi- 
ness career. She would miss him a great deal, but 
not so much as when she had been in the strictly 
experimental stages of her work. Now she had 
many things to occupy her time, too many things, 
— she sometimes thought. 

Franklin was what might have been called the 
“family side” of her life. They joked and differed 
and quarreled in not too vehement a way, and then 
made up again. At the same time there was noth- 
ing more than a family sentiment. Catherine was 
of the opinion that he should have gone sooner, so 
she did not try to dissuade him. She promised to 
come up often over the week-ends. That would be 
when her stepmother would spare her from spending 
the time with her. They had made confidants of 
each other on many subjects. But Catherine had 
never confided to him the interest she felt in “M. 
K. S.,” partly for the reason that she thought 


The Solution 


117 


Franklin could not throw any light on the prob- 
lem or understand it any better, if as well, as she 
did. 

Now that Franklin was going, she thought she 
would take a few hours each week and let “M. K. S.” 
write some more. But “M. K. S.” still seemed to 
have no desire to go out in company and since Cath- 
erine’s embarrassing experience at Miss Sutton’s, 
she had not insisted on her doing so. She had often 
wondered if “M. K. S.” had communicated through 
any other medium. This was a question that she 
now wrote out. The answer came immediately: 

“ ‘M. K. S.’ has not used any other medium. You 
are probably the only one whom she can use as a 
means of expression. She has watched and waited 
for years of your life for the opportunity. M. K. S. 
has no desire to use any other medium. There are 
many here who now wish to communicate for the 
war brought over multitudes who were young and 
virile and wished to live on earth.” 

“Are many young spirits thought desirable.?” 
asked Catherine. 

“M. K. S. does not think that the young spirits are 
as desirable as those more highly developed. With 
us it is the reverse of what it is with you, — the older 
we grow the more beautiful we become. There is no 
such sorrow as a fading rose or a withering flower. 
This contributes greatly to our happiness, for it 
is constant progress.” 


118 


The Solution 


“What manner of person makes the best medium?” 
asked Catherine. 

“M. K. S. thinks that the best mediums are those 
in whom the ego is not too apparent. The primitive 
man thought only of himself. It would not be pos- 
sible to communicate through such a medium. But, 
as man advances, the ego becomes less pronounced 
and in the future communication may become quite 
general.” 

Catherine then wrote, referring to colloids, “I 
cannot see why it should be so difficult to introduce 
a means of saving life as long as it is so easy and 
accessible.” 

“M. K. S. knows that, with mortals, minds de- 
velop slowly. So do not be impatient.” 

“Yes, but dear M. K. S., at the rate I have been 
going, it will take me more than a lifetime,” wrote 
Catherine. 

“Many innovations do. Some mortals live only 
after they are dead.” 

It had been Catherine’s earnest desire to help the 
thousands of men who returned from the war. This 
message did not look encouraging, so she wrote: 
“I certainly hope that I shall not have to wait that 
long.” 

“No, you will not. Psychic forces are working 
with you; and the influence of which you know and 
against which you struggle, can not now long pre- 
vail.” 


The Solution 


119 


This was more encouraging. Catherine then , 
wrote: “Did you inspire the thought of making 
water, — any water at all, — a beneficial one.?^” 

“M. K. S. does not think that she inspired it. It 
has long been known that the human body, when 
normal, is positively charged. Any agency that helps 
to maintain that vitality at normal is bound to be 
beneficial to all the organs. This, coupled with the 
well-know effect of oxygen, is sufficient to explain 
the results of what you have seen the machine do, 
the one that you, yourself, use.” 

“What medium do you think best as an oxidizer ?” 
asked Catherine. 

“The one that you use. It has a bearing on the 
future. When the earth was much warmer than it 
is now, the hemoglobin was of copper (the oxygen 
carrier). Copper has less affinity for oxygen than 
iron, which is the present oxygen carrier. When the 
earth and atmosphere cool still more the oxygen car- 
rier will have to change to some metal with a greater 
affinity for oxygen than iron. As ages go by, the 
soil and water will have an increasing amount of 
this metal and a decreasing amount of iron. The 
change will come in this way. The race will be- 
come more blond, taller, less magnetic, but more 
radio-active, as it were, with vastly more differentia- 
tion in personalities. Many things will be under- 
stood then that are not understandable to you now.” 

“Thank you, dear M. K. S. The fact of the 


120 


The Solution 


oxygen carriers changing from copper to iron, is 
conceded by science, I believe.” Then Catherine 
asked: “What becomes of those who have great 
aspirations here but reach to but little attain- 
ment ?” 

“M. K. S. knows that many discouraged souls 
come over. The future development of these will 
be along the lines they have chosen. Many souls 
on earth have known nothing but repression. Many 
of them are of a fine quality which made them un- 
able to compete with the more coarse and material 
natures, which are the most prevalent ones on earth 
at the present time. Those who struggle to achieve, 
interest us here the most. Those who have attained 
are not so interesting as those who have not reached 
the light, but see it dimly, — and are making the 
effort to progress. Is not the excitement of the 
race far more interesting to you than the mere 
ceremony of seeing the victor crowned? We love 
to help the struggling ones. Those who are develop- 
ing a character,— and not the ones who are attain- 
ing a fortune, — ^which often destroys character.” 

“Do the same conditions prevail all over the spirit 
land?” asked Catherine. 

“No, vastly different conditions prevail. There 
are different planes and different groups in the 
planes. There is endless variety.” 

“Can you convey to us what you would like to 


The Solution 


121 


say in our symbols? Is it not a handicap for you 
to use the language which you once used?’^ 

“M. K. S. cannot convey so very much in your 
symbols; they are inadequate. They can not ex- 
press the various shades of feeling completely. 
Neither does your music express harmonies which 
we have here; and the palette which you use is in- 
complete as to colors. It was not intended that 
perfection should be attained on earth, which is only 
the battle ground of the spirit over primitive pas- 
sions. If I should give you a message it would be 
this : ‘Struggle, that you may become strong. Have 
a clear and intelligent idea of what you wish to 
accomplish and a positive conviction that you can 
do what you will to do.’ ” 

Catherine did not take any messages again for 
some lonp* time and when she did attempt to do so 
the writing said: “M. K. S. will not write again 
until you are in better health. But she will always 
be near you.” 

This startled Catherine, for she felt that some- 
thing had been taken that belonged to her. Then 
she rose and went to her mirror. 

Turning on the light full, she studied her face 
closely. It was quite obvious that she had lost her 
former rosy complexion. She had also lost her 
roundness of cheek. She then reflected that “M. 
K. S.,” or her subconscious mind, had a better per- 


122 


The Solution 


ception of some things than she had. After sev- 
eral months, when she thought she had regained her 
vigor, she again tried to get a message; but none 
came. Nor could she get any response after further 
repeated trials. Catherine then realized that a very 
lovely and interesting experience had gone out of 
her life, for the time being, at least. 

Mrs. Miles had seemed to succeed in holding to- 
gether, for a few weeks, a number of rich men who 
would supply enough money for a very thorough 
demonstration on tuberculosis. She notified Cath- 
erine that she should now go ahead and get her 
patients together. Catherine proceeded to do this 
along lines which she knew would be acceptable to 
the doctor. It was thought best to have this dem- 
onstration as quietly as possible and have the an- 
nouncements made in the medical papers. She 
found it a difficult task, for if a patient presented 
himself with a prognosis of “probably curable,” the 
doctor immediately would have none of him. At 
the same time he must be in at least the second 
stage of the disease. 

She had not proceeded very far when she was 
asked up to the doctor’s for a conference. Two law- 
yers were there representing the men who would 
furnish the money if the doctor would but sign a 
certain agreement. But the doctor did not agree 
to the terms, and remained obdurate. He said he 
didn’t know if he had a soul, but if he did have one 


The Solution 


123 


he was not going to make an assignment of it. Dif- 
ferent ones expostulated. One of the lawyers said 
he thought Mrs. Miles was efficient and sinceire 
enough, but too temperamental. 

“Yes,” said the doctor, “but more temper than 
mental!” in his concise way. The lawyer again in- 
terposed: “I rather think that temperament is just 
what her attitude should spell,” in his coldest and 
most calculating tone. “When it is temper-ment, 
they can control themselves if they wish.” 

“That would depend largely upon training,” re- 
plied the doctor. “In our profession we have a lot 
of that sort of thing to contend with.” 

Catherine did not feel qualified to join in the ex- 
postulating until she had read the agreement, for 
she wanted to expostulate intelligently. As the 
agreement covered twenty pages she left the rest of 
them to finish the argument. As she came to the last 
page of the reading, it seemed to be the doctor’s 
turn to take the floor, which he did. 

“Gentlemen, I refuse to sign that agreement on 
earth, or in heaven, or in hell!” This seemed em- 
phatic enough, especially to the legal minds. They 
said “Good evening,” and withdrew from the par- 
ley, leaving all concerned in a high state of dis- 
comfiture. 

Mrs. Miles entered at this juncture. She was a 
persevering and determined woman. She said: 

“The doctor has neglected to mention purgatory. 


124 


The Solution 


And maybe he would sign, in spite of his assevera- 
tions to the contrary. Perhaps there might be some 
alterations made. However, one man stood out 
firmly that the doctor should not sign any such 
agreement. Mrs. Miles found it impossible to bring 
the widely diverging factions together although she 
was most insistent in her efforts. She struggled 
along for more than a week, hoping to bring about 
some sort of a reconciliation. Finally she notified 
Catherine that she had failed, and could make no 
further effort. She suggested that Catherine take 
up the matter again and try to bring about a recon- 
ciliation between these rich patrons and the doc- 
tor. She said she considered Catherine more tact- 
ful and diplomatic in such matters. 

Catherine allowed the dispute to subside for a 
couple of weeks ; then she interviewed the doctor, and 
also the men who were willing to furnish the money 
in case the doctor came to what they considered rea- 
sonable terms. If the doctor was interfered with, he 
could not do his best work. Catherine understood 
this, but the men did not. One man particularly laid 
down the rules by which the doctor must abide if 
he was to furnish any money at all. Catherine re- 
plied to him: “Yes, I have read those rules, very 
much amplified in a twenty page agreement, Mr. 
Reed. Now, if you will do nothing except under 
the conditions which you prescribe, allow me to say 


The Solution 125 

that you cannot convert an eagle into a barnyarcj 
fowl.” 

Although Catherine held her head high and tried 
to be cheerful over what looked like a hopeless de- 
feat, she felt her loss keenly. She did not have 
Franklin to unburden her troubles to now. And 
“M. K. S.” had always told her not to be impatient. 
So Mrs. Thompson, who was a friend, and more or 
less known in medical circles, came in for Cath- 
erine's story of defeat, which was repeated, with 
variations. 

“A fine spectacle,” Catherine would exclaim, heat- 
edly, “one hundred and fifty thousand persons are 
dying every year of tuberculosis alone! Look at 
the army — fifty thousand came back with tuber- 
culosis. Can the hospitals cure them the way Dr. 
Howell can? No, they can’t. Are not these men 
entitled to the best ? Then why isn’t there an Ameri- 
can citizen who has courage enough to come forth 
and see that they get it? Fine examples of men, 
they are, leaving it all to one woman I” 

“I have an idea,” said Mrs. Thompson, “we will 
put one over on the government. You know the 
machine that you made me for Dr. Harold.'^ He is 
well now, and doesn’t need it any longer. He had 
had the best medical care for months previous. I 
know, from the cases I have seen that the water 
helped him. Now there is a captain, a very popular 


126 


The Solution 


man, whom I know well. I understand that in his 
case the poison is similar. He has been brought 
north because his heart is too weak to stand an 
operation. Shall we save him.^ You build another 
machine like that, and I will do the rest.” 

Catherine looked doubtful. “The hitch is just 
here,” she explained, “the medical machines I build 
are for doctors and surgeons only. You said you 
wanted that one for a surgeon, or you could not have 
gotten one made that way. Those that oxidize the 
blood are good for any one. But there are also ma- 
chines intended only for doctors.” 

“In that case,” said Mrs. Thompson, with de- 
cision, “I shall borrow Dr. Harold’s. He does not 
need it now. I intend to save that man !” 

“I am just as anxious as you are to save the 
Captain. I would do anything at all in my power. 
Only it seems to me that it should be done through 
the surgeon at the hospital. We are both anxious 
for the same end, as you know. Only we differ 
as to the means of attaining it. I do not believe 
that they will allow him to use it, even if you do take 
it to the Hospital yourself.” 

“Oh yes, they will have to. I shall tell them 
who I am. They have had two years in which to 
cure him. Now I say it’s time to give some one 
else a chance. You know the action of the water 
on pus and poisons,” continued Mrs. Thompson. 


1 


The Solution 


127 


“When there is such a simple device to send out 
pus and poisons, why, through sheer stupidity, 
should so many be allowed to die? I think that a 
perfect outrage!” 

“Of course I know the action of the water, but 
they don’t.” 

“Very well, then,” continued Mrs. Thompson, “/ 
propose to show them.” And she did. She took her 
machine to the hospital, and the Captain used the 
water. At the end of three days he was sitting up. 
At the end of a week he was going on the porch. 
Like many others, his heart had become so affected 
by pus and poison that it was not deemed prudent 
to operate for it might prove fatal. The pus was 
eventually sent out in quantity by the water; after 
which he entirely recovered. 

After his recovery, Mrs. Thompson remarked : 
“Well, to use a common phrase I feel as if ‘I had 
put one over’ gloriously on the government. I wish 
I had a chance to help all the others. Why don’t 
you ask the Government to try out your machine, 
especially as you have some good doctors using it?” 
she asked Catherine. 

“Heavens !” expostulated Catherine, “Don’t you 
suppose I’ve done that very thing times without 
end? Now my position with them, in the last anal- 
ysis, is just this: If they prove me to he an im- 
poster, they should prosecute me. If I am not an 


128 


The Solution 


imposter, then they should aid Tne in conservmg hu- 
man life, particularly the lives of the returned sol- 
diers.” 

“I am glad to hear you define your position,” said 
Mrs. Thompson. 

Catherine had high regard for Mrs. Thompson’s 
judgment, for a great part of her work had been 
the editing of articles on surgery. She was well 
informed as to the possibilities of present day sur- 
gery. But she was also aware of the impossibilities. 
She had often declared that any device that could 
localize and eliminate pus and poison would revo- 
lutionize surgery. It was from this cause that mor- 
tality mostly occurs. 

In the meantime, Catherine had been turning over 
in her mind how she should arrange about the dem- 
onstrations. The rich men who understood what 
could be done would naturally be the ones to sub- 
scribe, and make success possible. But this plan 
of procedure had failed utterly. She had written out 
her plan so that the doctor could consider it care- 
fully. Catherine said, after he had read it over: 
“You see, with the world of moneyed men about us 
they have left so important a measure to me, appar- 
ently. I shall have to do my best.” 

“It appears to me,” said the doctor, “that what 
you have outlined here is reasonable. I will ac- 
cept, for I think that you understand the situa- 
tion.” 


The Solution 


129 


That night Catherine began the task of sorting 
out all the memoranda from years back that she 
had made for future use. The following week she 
started writing her book. She was sometimes weary 
and discouraged as she wrote. But she had only 
to visualize the misery that might become alleviated 
and removed to make her continue her task with 
renewed zeal. She wrote for the thousands of suf- 
fering little ones, that they might be saved an 
untimely grave : she wrote for the ones in their prime 
that they might be spared to complete useful lives: 
she wrote for the aged, for these when purged of 
the impurities that accumulate with age will no 
longer be subject to the diseases of age. Then 
might these, when the Great Summons came, gently 
“wrap the draperies of their couch about them, and 
lie down to pleasant dreams.” 


POSTSCRIPT 


The term colloid is applied to those substances 
which, when in solution, do not diffuse through 
parchment membranes; the diffusible substances are 
termed crystalloids. Notwithstanding that the col- 
loid state is the condition in which all living matter 
exists, it is a remarkable fact that the crystalline 
state, representing as it does inanimate matter, is 
the form in which medicines of the present day are 
mostly administered, a state of matter not in har- 
mony with the body. 

It has been the fortune of the author to witness 
some very remarkable recoveries from diseases for 
which there were no recognized specific remedies and 
in which colloids were used, whether alone or in 
conjunction with other treatment. Some years ago. 
Dr. Thomas Kelly suggested that the author make 
notes of such observations with the view of pre- 
senting them in book form at some future time. 
The present book is the outcome of this suggestion. 
Instead, however, of the scientific record, which Dr. 
Kelly had in mind, the present opportunity has 
been taken to present some facts in the form of fic- 
tion and to give prominence to the many amusing 
130 


The Solution 


131 


incidents that have occurred in the course of the 
writer’s extensive and varied experience. The in- 
terest which is attached to this form of presentation 
should not lead the reader to lose sight of the fact 
that the cases cited are entirely authentic. The 
omission of data and letters given by physicians and 
the use of fictitious names is in harmony with pro- 
fessional courtesy and ethics. 

Dr. W. B. Holden points out in an article upon 
“Colloids in Influenza” that the administration of 
these remedies when the physician is first called and 
before it is possible to make a proper diagnosis 
often averts what might be a serious illness because 
of the immediate action of the colloid. 

As everywhere in nature, here too, in colloids 
there are no sharp lines of demarcation. As the 
particles become smaller they approach the molecu- 
lar condition. Hence the electrocolloids, which are 
the smallest colloids and are therapeutically the 
most valuable, no longer present the property of 
non-difiTusibility through vegetable and animal 
membranes. In the early use of the colloids it was 
not understood that only the most minute particles 
were efficaious and for this reason there have been 
many misunderstandings concerning them. 

To convert the principal medicines into the col- 
loidal state may probably be the work of years, but 
when this is accomplished the public may cease to 
have that fear of drugs which now is constantly 


132 


The Solution 


growing, for while the efficacy of colloidal medicine 
is increased a hundred times over that of the crys- 
talline form, the toxic effects are minimized for the 
unnatural crystalline salts or herbs have been con- 
verted into that state into which most of our food 
is taken. For example, what doctor, having used 
organic iodine would think of returning to the old 
form of this drug and the later “Aqua Iodine” still 
excels that which was used in the war. The above 
is simply cited as one instance in which even the 
layman has noticed the difference. 

When medicines shall have been converted into a 
form which the public understands is harmless, it 
will be a better day for the physician, the chemist 
and the patient. It is no uncommon thing to hear a 
patient say that his doctor had cured rheumatism, 
but at the expense of his stomach, or that he reduces 
this or that condition at the expense of the heart. 
For this reason the visit to the doctor is sometimes 
delayed, not because they fear the doctor but be- 
cause they fear the medicine. Most of the “isms” 
that have arisen in healing have been protests against 
the use of drugs unnatural to the human system; 
when colloidal medication becomes a fact the “isms” 
will mostly disappear for not the most fanatical 
object to food which is mostly colloidal and that is 
the form into which the medicine of the future will be 
converted. Therefore the colloidal medication makes 
for harmony and not for discord. The patient needs 


The Solution 133 

to have the same confidence in the medicine that he 
already entertains for the physician. 

So convincing are the results of colloidal medi- 
cation, that it seems desirable to familiarize the 
medical public with its possibilities. To this end, 
clinical demonstrations by and under control of re- 
sponsible physicians especially experienced in this 
field are planned. A prominent physician has signi- 
fied his willingness to give the first demonstration 
upon tuberculosis, which may be followed by other 
demonstrations upon diseases now without specific 
treatment in which the colloids when properly pre- 
pared and administered have proven to be efficacious. 

The income derived from the sale of this book will 
be utilized to promote these demonstrations: conse- 
quently the greater the number of books sold the 
greater the number of demonstrations which may be 
given. 

Because of the toxic effects of the crystalline form 
of medicine progress has necessarily been slow and 
halting, the conscientious physician has to consider 
carefully the result to the patient but with a form 
of medication in which the toxic eflPects are mini- 
mized he can proceed with more confidence. 

The immediate future of the colloids in thera- 
peutics is at stake. It is dependent upon the scien- 
tific knowledge and technical skill of the chemist 
who produces them ; upon the confidence and clinical 
skill of the physician who applies them ; and upon the 


134 


The Solution 


intelligent recognition of their remedial value by 
the innumerable sufferers benefited' by them. 

Shall another half century add itself to the one 
already passed since their discovery before their 
value is recognized; or shall they now come into 
their own.?* This is dependent not upon one, but 
upon many individuals. Great is the future of col- 
loidal therapeutics ; for though it be difficult it is a 
glorious one. 


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